


What If This Storm Ends

by cthulhusmovingcastle



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Smut, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-01
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-03-15 19:11:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 54,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3458606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cthulhusmovingcastle/pseuds/cthulhusmovingcastle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Asami's whole life has been steeped in war - her family and the chiefs of the south have been at each other's throats for generations. Asami wants it to end, and she'll do anything for peace. (Based on Amelia Atwater-Rhodes' "Hawksong")</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The sound of the engine was grating.

Asami’s lips pursed as she stared, unseeing, out the window of the car, teeth worrying at the inside of her mouth. It was unusual enough that the steady rumble of the engine was grinding on her nerves rather than soothing them, and the high-pitched scream of an engine belt in dire need of adjustment wasn’t helping.

It also probably didn’t help that she hadn’t been permitted to drive the car on this particular outing. That had _really_ made her bare her teeth. But her bodyguard had insisted, and in return for his keeping this trip from her father, she’d – very irately – agreed.

Gradually, the lush green countryside outside turned bleak and grey as they approached the recently vacated battlefield where hundreds of her countrymen had fallen only days before, the grass reduced to fields of ash from the fires of war.

Asami was jolted from her thoughts as a hand reached out in front of her, making to draw closed the curtain over the window. She promptly shoved the hand back where it had come from.  


“Are you sure about this?”

She turned to look at the young man sitting beside her, his sharp features drawn into a frown that was somehow both disapproving and worried.

“They’re my people too, Mako. Not just my father’s.”

“There could still be enemy soldiers about. We shouldn’t be here.”

Asami ignored his concerns, turning her gaze back out the window. She knew Mako was only doing his job – and more than that – but his constant fretting was irksome at the best of times, and today it was only serving to aggravate her further.

The whole thing was just so _stupid_. Her family had been at war for so long that nobody even remembered why they were fighting anymore – it was all just vendetta after vendetta, death to avenge death, as if that would ever solve anything. And her father treated her like she had no idea that the war was even happening, despite its part in her mother’s death when she was a child. She wasn’t _stupid_ ; she heard the mechanics talking in the garages even as she kept her head down and her eyes on her work. She saw the blood splattering the vehicles that came in for repair. And when she could, when her father was preoccupied with his war council or dreaming up new ways to kill people, she took Mako – willing or otherwise – and walked the deserted fields of fresh battles.

“Why does this mean so much to you?”

It wasn’t the first time he’d asked that question, and it certainly wasn’t the first time that Asami hadn’t answered it. Truthfully, she couldn’t quite put her finger on why she needed to do this. There was just something about sitting at home, safe behind the walls of the city and the walls of the palace, that rubbed her entirely the wrong way. She couldn’t just sit idly by while her people were dying – dying for no good reason, purely because two stubborn patriarchs were too short-sighted to realise how ridiculous the entire thing had become.

Mako gave up on waiting for a response. Asami felt rather than heard his sigh as he dropped the issue, and a tiny flicker of guilt managed to briefly break through her mood. Bodyguard though he might be, Mako was also one of her oldest and dearest friends, and sometimes she treated him unfairly because of his position.

She turned to look at him, but he was turned away, looking out his window. Reaching over, she laid her hand over his; she said nothing, but some of the tension seemed to drain from his shoulders, and the corner of his lips twitched in a tiny smile, accepting the unspoken apology.

The car came to a hesitant halt. “We have to stop, your highness,” the driver said, glancing at her through the rear view mirror with something like apprehension in his eyes. “The terrain is too rough to continue.”

“This is fine. Thank you.” Asami opened the door and stepped out, a cloud of ash puffing up from where her boots fell upon the charred earth.

Mako fell into step beside her as she started to walk, keeping a respectful distance while making his presence known. She didn’t particularly mind; she’d grown so used to having him there, always at her shoulder, that she almost felt naked when he wasn’t around; like she was missing her own shadow.

Neither side had come to collect their dead. Asami assumed that was part of the reason why they’d torched the field; why waste time and money on mourning their dead when they had more deaths to plan? Her hands balled into fists as this thought flitted through her head and she stuffed them into the pockets of her jacket. She didn’t shy away from the charred corpses of the fallen; she resolutely watched every one as she passed by, unable to tell the bones of the enemy from the bones of her people. It grounded her, in a way; reminded her that there was really very little separating them, that enemy soldiers were only doing as they were told, as were those of her father. It still infuriated her, but somehow it helped.

“Asami.”

Mako’s voice jolted her from her thoughts and she stopped, turning to him. His sharp eyes were turned to their right, narrowed slightly – he was listening, and she kept quiet, waiting.

Very faintly, a desperate plea for help drifted through the deathly still air.

Asami immediately started for it, but Mako grabbed her arm. “It could be one of them,” he said.

Asami’s eyes flashed as she turned on him. “And what if it is? They’re still a person, Mako – a person in pain, who needs help.”

“It could also be a trick.”

“Because anybody out here would know who I am.” She tore her arm out of his grasp and made her way toward the voice.

The soldier was lying in a small gully in the field, smeared with mud and blood. The water-smoothed rocks beneath her suggested there had been a stream or a creek running through – it appeared to have been shallow, but just enough to keep the worst of the fire at bay before it was choked and thickened by the ash. As Mako had feared, she wore the uniform of the south, but Asami ignored it as she knelt by the soldier’s side, mindless of the mud against her leather pants.

It was immediately obvious that there was nothing they could do for her. She was already dead; her body just hadn’t caught on to the fact. Tears brimmed in her eyes as she fixed her gaze desperately on Asami and groped for her hand.

Asami swallowed back her own tears, clasping the soldier’s hand tightly as she reached over to brush a shock of dirt-and-blood-smeared hair back from her ashen face. Her heart wrenched; this girl was younger than even she was, her cool brown skin smooth beneath layers of grime and ash.

“Mako. Water.”

The flask was in her hands almost immediately even though she could feel the disapproval radiating from her friend like an aura. With agonising care, Asami tilted the soldier’s head up and lowered the flask to her dry, cracked lips, and she drank greedily. When she was done, she tried to rasp her thanks, but Asami shushed her gently, stroking her fingers through the girl’s hair and moving to rest the heavy head in her lap.

There she stayed until the girl’s wracking breaths ceased, her chest falling still, her eyes never once falling away from Asami’s face.

Slowly, Asami moved out from beneath her, closing the girl’s eyes with regretful care. She didn’t rise for several moments before she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“We should head back,” Mako said, his voice soft, echoing the ache in her chest.

For once she didn’t argue with him, rising to her feet and following him back to the car.

 

The heat and bustle of the workshop didn’t calm her quite as effectively as it normally did, but it helped.

In here, surrounded by gruff mechanics and the smell of hot oil and the clatter of metal against metal, she could escape her thoughts for at least a little while.

She wrestled with a particularly stubborn alternator bolt, swearing under her breath at the awkwardness of the angle. Immediately upon returning home the car’s engine had stalled, and she’d had it pushed into the garage to take a look. It was good timing; she needed something to distract her, and alternators were complicated. She liked complicated. It kept her mind too busy to linger on her perpetual, helpless anger.

She had the alternator out and was dismantling it on a workbench when Bolin found her.

“Hey Asami,” he said, his voice chipper as always.

Asami was familiar with this. There wasn’t a lot that Mako wouldn’t share with his younger brother, and Bolin was far better at cheering her up than Mako was.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” she said, not taking her attention from her work.

“I thought I’d give you a little while, you know, to avoid a wrench to the face.” She could hear the grin in his voice, but his good-natured joking wasn’t doing the trick today.

“You know what happened, then,” Asami said.

“Yeah.” His voice grew serious. “Mako didn’t really seem to get it. Are you okay?”

It was a question that Mako rarely asked – not because he didn’t care, but because he was terrible at showing that he did. Bolin and Asami were both used to it, but that didn’t make it any nicer to deal with – so they relied on one another for the kind of comfort that Mako couldn’t give.

“A girl died in my arms,” she replied shortly, grunting as a particularly tight bolt finally gave way and started to turn. The rattle of the small ratchet in her hand was immensely satisfying. “What do you think?”

Bolin leaned his back against the bench beside her, arms folding over his middle. “Mako said she was southern.”

“She was.” Asami started to carefully pull the alternator apart. “Does it matter?”

“No, but you know how he is.”

“He tried to stop me from going to her.”

Bolin shrugged. “He takes his job very seriously. And he worries about you. A lot.”

“I can take care of myself.”

Bolin grinned. “I think that’s what worries him.” He watched in silence for a few moments as Asami worked. “I overheard Varrick talking to Zhu Li earlier.”

“Oh?” It was the last thing Asami wanted to hear about. Her father’s most trusted advisor, the left hand brandishing the shield while Hiroshi held the sword. Varrick was just as responsible for that girl’s death as her father was.

“They intercepted a southern messenger not far from here.”

Asami said nothing as she carefully freed the brushes from the alternator and started to meticulously clean them.

Bolin’s voice was careful as he continued. “They, uh... they killed him, as they tend to do. Paranoid and all. But apparently the message he carried was for your father.”

_That_ gave Asami pause. Finally, she looked up at Bolin, and saw her own confusion reflected in his bright green eyes. “You’re serious?”

“Yeah.” Bolin spread his hands helplessly. “I didn’t quite catch what it said, but... Asami, they’re trying to talk for once. That’s got to be a good sign, right?”

Almost as soon as it had risen, Asami’s hope deflated. “My father would never listen to them. He’s too stubborn. All he cares about is avenging my mother.”

“Well, yeah,” Bolin agreed, “but it’s a start. Maybe they’ll get through to him.”

Asami shook her head. “No, they won’t.” She started to go back to her work, but paused, slowly placing the ratchet down. “But maybe _I_ can.”

Bolin’s expression was dubious. “I mean... yeah, the only other person he’d listen to more closely is Varrick, but on this particular topic... well, it’s just, you know... he’s never exactly been open-minded about it with you... or anyone.”

For the first time that day, Asami smiled. “Then I’ll have to be _very_ clever about it,” she said, reaching up to tweak Bolin’s nose. He was so busy staring at her that he didn’t even protest.


	2. Chapter 2

If there was one thing that Asami could say for sure about Varrick, it was that he was as regular as clockwork.

“Zhu Li! It’s four o’clock! You know what _that_ means!”

“I’ll get the pumice, sir.”

Asami waited for them both to leave Varrick’s office before stealing around the corner and slipping through the door before it closed, trying not to think about Varrick’s feet. She had no idea how Zhu Li dealt with it – but then, there seemed to be something going on there, so maybe she wasn’t really scrubbing Varrick’s feet.

She quickly shoved that thought out of her head, mortified, and busied herself rummaging through the drawers of Varrick’s desk. He was the messy kind of genius, the type whose paperwork was just as muddled as his thought process, so she didn’t worry too much about subtlety.

It didn’t take long to find the letter. As she’d suspected, Varrick had kept it from her father; for what reason, she couldn’t guess, but she was sure it was nothing good. Varrick was never up to anything good. Tucking it inside her jacket, she slipped out as quietly as she’d entered and immediately went looking for Bolin.

She found him sitting under a tree outside, apparently trying to teach his pet fire ferret to do a hand-stand on a ball.

“Come on, Pabu! Just one more try! I promise I’ll catch you this time!”

Asami dropped down beside Bolin, and Pabu immediately leapt into her lap.

Bolin scoffed. “Alright, alright, but you can’t hide behind Asami forever, you know.”

Asami laughed, stroking Pabu’s head. “So I got something,” she said, lifting her gaze to Bolin.

“Oh yeah? Is it edible? I’m _starving_.”

She rolled her eyes and reached into her jacket, casting a furtive glance around before pulling out the letter. “Remember that messenger?”

Bolin’s eyes widened. “You didn’t.”

Asami smiled sweetly.

“You broke into Varrick’s office? Are you insane?”

“I’m being proactive,” Asami said primly. “Do you want to know what it says or not?”

“Well, obviously.”

She grinned at him and opened the letter, reading it aloud – in a hushed voice, so as not to be overheard.

 

_“To His Majesty, Hiroshi Sato of the Northern Reach,_  
 _I send this letter in the hopes that you will read it, though I am given to worry that it might not even make it to you. Even so, I trust that when it finds you – if indeed it does – it finds you in good health and better humour._  
 _I know you are not unaware of the struggle of our nations. We have been caught in a stalemate for too long, never advancing or retreating, never gaining ground but always losing soldiers. Good men and women who have done nothing to deserve to be sent to their deaths. The longer it goes on, the less I can be sure it’s justified. We’ve been at war for generations – does anybody recall why? My generals fight to avenge their fallen, just as I imagine yours do, but the real reason behind the fighting has long been forgotten._  
 _I believe it’s time to lay this feud to rest. Let us lay down our arms and talk for once – on neutral ground, with neutral mediators, for the good of both our kingdoms._  
 _I propose a peace council on Air Temple Island. There has been enough senseless death – let us put an end to it._  
 _With hope,  
_ _Chief Tonraq of the United Southern Tribes.”_

 

Asami lowered the letter and stared at Bolin. He stared back.

“What are you two doing?”

They started guiltily as Mako’s shadow fell over them, and Asami tried to hide the letter, but moved too late.

“What’s that?”

“Nothing,” Asami tried, but they all knew she wasn’t fooling anyone.

“Asami.” His voice was less stern than pleading, and her lower lip formed a pout as she reluctantly handed the letter to him.

His serious, golden eyes flitted over the page. Asami and Bolin exchanged a worried glance as Mako read.

“Where did you get this?” he asked when he finished.

“I... found it,” Asami lied. Mako arched an eyebrow at her and she pressed on in a vain attempt to remedy her absolute transparency. “But look, this is a good thing, right? We should go.”

“It could be a trick,” Mako said. “They could just lure Hiroshi out of the city and kill him.”

“Trust you to see a down side,” Bolin said. “Come on, Mako! This is big!”

“I don’t buy it,” Mako said stubbornly. “Besides, Hiroshi would never go for it. And Varrick makes way too much money off this war – neither of them want it to end, not really.”

“That’s why I’m going to change their minds,” Asami said. “Well – my father’s, anyway.”

“And how do you expect to do that?”

“You’re considerably more annoying than usual today.”

Mako’s lips twitched into a wry smirk. “You have no idea, do you?”

Asami flushed as both brothers stared at her. “Well, not exactly, no. I’m working on it!” She added indignantly as Mako rolled his eyes.

“Well, stop working on it,” he said, tucking the letter into his pocket. “It’ll never work, and you’ll only land both of us in trouble.” With that he turned on his heel and walked away.

Asami glowered after him, but she couldn’t deny that he was right – especially when it came to Varrick. He was the real problem, and while he was whispering away into Hiroshi’s ear, there was no way she’d be able to convince them to go to Air Temple Island.

Unless...

“Uh oh,” Bolin said. “You have an idea.”

Asami beamed at him. “I have an idea.”

 

Asami Sato was a woman of many talents. She could strip down an engine as easily as solve any mathematical equation put in front of her, she could more than hold her own in a fight and she could charm the birds from the trees, given the desire to do so.

And she could convince her father to give her almost anything she wanted – so long as it didn’t interfere with his beloved war.

Over the next few weeks, she made sure to be in her father’s sight as often as possible, and she did her absolute best to make her feigned melancholy seem genuine. She wandered aimlessly around the palace, sighing and looking forlorn, staring out of windows and speaking little to anybody – even Mako and Bolin. She couldn’t afford for either of them to let slip that her apparent moodiness was an act, so while it pained her, she avoided them as much as possible.

Staying out of the garage was the hardest part of the whole charade, but it was the key that finally unlocked the door to her father’s undivided attention.

Hiroshi called her to his office early one morning, before Varrick could rise and intrude on them.

“You seem out of sorts, my dear,” he said as Asami lowered herself into a soft leather armchair.

“Do I?” she asked in a distracted sigh.

“Mako is very concerned.” Hiroshi was peering at her over the rim of his glasses, his hands folded on his desk, and there was genuine worry in his eyes. “He says you’ve barely spoken a word to him or Bolin in weeks, and you haven’t even been seen in the workshop. Is everything okay?”

Asami turned her gaze (rather dramatically) out the window. “I guess I’m just... I don’t know. _Bored_. I haven’t been out of the Reach in years.”

“It’s too dangerous for us to leave the Reach, Asami,” Hiroshi said, gentle but chastising all the same. “You know that.”

“I know, but... I want to go _somewhere_. There’s got to be some place I can go where the south won’t find me.”

He had to think it was his own idea. This wouldn’t work otherwise. Asami pouted a little, thumbs toying with one another in her lap as Hiroshi watched her thoughtfully. It was a struggle to keep her ears from reddening beneath his gaze, but finally, he spoke.

“What about Air Temple Island?”

Asami adopted a carefully practised look of distaste. “With the _monks_? Father, do they even have _beds_?”

“It’s neutral territory,” Hiroshi said, “so the south wouldn’t dare invade there. And it’s away from the Reach. You can take an airship straight to the island – with a protection detail, of course.”  
Asami made some show of considering it.

“Please, Asami. I hate seeing you like this, and if a trip out of the Reach is what helps, then Air Temple Island is the only viable option without sending you halfway across the world.”

“Are you sure you can spare the troops for a protection detail?” she asked, feigning concern for his damn strategies.

“For my daughter’s safety and happiness? Of course.”

_Unless it involves putting an end to this bullshit_ , she thought, but she kept that to herself. “Alright, father,” she said, and she let a smile grace her lips for the first time in weeks. “I’ll go to Air Temple Island. Thank you.”

She almost felt guilty as he returned her smile. “I’ll send Mako and Bolin with you, too. It’s not a trip without friends.”

_That_ put a damper on things, but she did her best not to let it show. If the order was coming from Hiroshi, Mako would have no choice but to go with her, regardless of whether he agreed or not.

As she left her father’s office, her heart hammered excitedly in her chest. Now all she needed to do was convince Tonraq that she’d been sent to speak on Hiroshi’s behalf.


	3. Chapter 3

Mako was, predictably, furious.

“I should’ve _known_ you were full of it when you were moping around like a lovesick damsel,” he fumed.

“Yes, you should’ve,” Asami agreed mildly, sketching out an engine design in her notebook.

“This is the stupidest idea you’ve ever had,” Mako continued. “Going to Air Temple Island _alone_? To meet with _Tonraq_? What if I’m right? What if it’s a trap?”

“I’m not alone,” she pointed out, “and it’s not a very well thought-out trap if it’s set up on Air Temple Island – unless Tonraq has managed to get the monks on his side.” She glanced up at him. “I don’t really need to tell you how far-fetched that is, do I?”

Mako glared at her.

“She’s got a point, bro,” Bolin piped up from further down the table where the three of them sat. Pabu was perched on his shoulder, staring intently between Mako and Asami. “We’ve got a whole airship on full alert all the way to the island, and once we get there, we’re pretty much untouchable.”

“Don’t you encourage this any more than you already have,” Mako snapped.

Bolin rolled his eyes.

“Settle down, Mako,” Asami said, sparing him only a brief glance. “It’s done, we’re on our way, there’s not much point in arguing about it. Besides,” she said, putting her pencil down and resting her chin on the backs of her joined hands to flutter her eyelashes at him, “my oldest, dearest, most loyal friend will protect me, won’t you, Mako?”

Mako’s lips pressed into a thin line.

Asami smiled brightly at him and went back to her work.

They were three days in the air before Air Temple Island appeared on the horizon, perched in the centre of the enormous lake that served as a natural landmark, separating the northern and southern territories. Asami supposed it was appropriate to hold peace negotiations here – they were literally meeting halfway.

Mako wasn’t as angry as he’d been, but he still wasn’t happy. If she was honest with herself, Asami really couldn’t blame him. It _was_ a reckless move – but nothing had been achieved by playing it safe so far. Even if it was a trap, she’d suffer the consequences knowing that she was doing it for a greater good. She knew that most of his irritation was born of worry, perhaps even outright fear, and she knew it was for her safety, so she tried not to torment him too much.

Bolin, on the other hand, was an irrepressible bundle of excitement that grew closer and closer to exploding the nearer they drew to the island.

“I’ve never met the monks before! What do you suppose they’re like? Do you think they shave their whole bodies, or just their heads? I heard something about tattoos, how would they do that if they have no power? _Do_ they have power?”

Asami reached out to lay a hand on Bolin’s arm as he bounced on the balls of his feet, his face pressed against the glass. They stood on the observation deck, watching the lake and the island draw inexorably closer.

Asami was scared. She could admit that – maybe not to Mako, but certainly to herself – and she knew it was a reasonable sort of reaction. She was about to meet with her family’s oldest enemies, without her father’s knowledge or permission, only a small retinue of airmen and her two best friends for protection. While she was sure that she, Mako and Bolin could handle almost anything the tiny island could possibly throw at them, some small part of her started worrying that maybe Tonraq had found a way to sneak a small army into the temple.

But she held her head high, her jaw set firmly against her anxiety. She absolutely would not let Mako suspect that she was starting to second-guess herself, and she could be just as stubborn as her father.

Even so, she was more than a little light-headed with nerves when the airship finally touched down and she led Mako and Bolin down the ramp to the island.

They were greeted by a tall monk, a grim-looking man with a sharply pointed goatee and a blue arrow tattooed over his bald head. 

“See? Tattoos!” Bolin hissed excitedly. Mako drove his elbow into Bolin’s side.

“Welcome to Air Temple Island,” the monk greeted them, offering a low bow. “I am Master Tenzin.”

“Asami Sato,” Asami said, matching the unfamiliar gesture as gracefully as she could. “I’m afraid my father couldn’t make it, but I’m here to speak for him.”

Tenzin gave her a dubious look. “Unusual,” he remarked, and for a split second Asami’s heart seemed to stop in her chest. “But Tonraq was unsure that anybody would come, so it’s better than nothing.” His eyes widened slightly as he seemed to realise the implication of his words. “Not that it isn’t a delight to meet you, your highness. I’ve heard many great things about your work.”

Asami’s smile was genuine – she hadn’t realised that anyone outside of the Reach had paid her work much attention. “This is Mako, my bodyguard, and his brother Bolin,” she said, gesturing to the two standing rather awkwardly behind her. “My father insisted I bring them, as I’m sure you could understand.”

“Of course,” Tenzin agreed, “but I’m afraid I can’t permit your airmen to stay on the island. Tonraq’s ship is anchored on the southern shore – rest assured, he only has a small party with him, as well.”

Asami nodded. “Is there a radio on the island?”

“There is.”

Asami turned to Bolin, who seemed distracted by the suggestion of electricity on the island. “Bolin, could you tell the captain to make his way back to the northern shore? I’ll radio him when we’re ready to leave.”

Bolin offered a clumsy salute and scrambled back up into the ship.

“If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your rooms,” Tenzin said. Mako hefted their bags over his shoulder as he followed along behind Asami, her ever-present shadow. She’d never been more thankful for his presence at her back. Despite the warm welcome and Tenzin’s reassurance, she still felt uneasy – but perhaps it was simply nervous excitement. If this went well, they could be looking at peace, an end to the war that had plagued them all for far too long.

Their rooms were simple, far more humble than what she was accustomed to, but she wouldn’t complain. At first glance, Asami saw only two beds, but on further inspection spotted a third bed in an adjoining room to her right. Aside from the beds and a woollen rug in the middle of the floor, there was very little furniture to speak of.

“I’ll leave you to get settled in,” Tenzin said, hovering in the doorway while Mako dropped the bags on his bed. “Our southern friends have been joining us for our evening meals, but if you’d rather take yours in here, that can certainly be arranged.” The offer was casual enough, but Asami sensed a certain shrewd prodding behind the question.

“That won’t be necessary,” she said. “We’ll join you.”

Tenzin smiled, bowed, and took his leave, sliding the door closed behind him.

“Are you _insane_?” Mako exploded behind her. Asami rolled her eyes as she turned to face him. “We could have just stayed in here! Why did you have to go and promise that?”

“Because I won’t be the one to continue the animosity here,” Asami said sharply, and Mako’s attitude seemed to drop several floors. “These are supposed to be peace talks, Mako. What good are peace talks if we can’t even sit down and share a meal civilly?”

“You don’t know that that’s all that’s going on!” Mako said. “Asami, please! You have to be more careful!”

“What’s all the yelling about?” Bolin asked as he entered.

“Asami just promised Tenzin that we’d eat with them tonight.”

Bolin regarded his brother critically.

“Tonraq will be there,” Asami said, giving a dismissive wave of her hand.

“Oh.” Bolin paused. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“Not you too,” Asami glowered.

“Not that I’m agreeing with Mako’s raging paranoia,” Bolin said quickly, “but, I mean... we only just got here. Surely it wouldn’t be unreasonable for you to claim travel weariness for one night.”

“Will you two _stop_?” Asami snapped. “Stop acting like we’re in enemy territory. We’re not. We’re on Air Temple Island, for the love of Raava! There’s no safer place in the world!”

“Home is safer,” Mako grumbled.

“Yeah, it was really safe for that soldier in the stream, wasn’t it?” Asami was aware of her voice rising – she was getting worked up, which was never a good look in a political situation. “I’m tired of you second-guessing me! I’m trying to prevent any more needless deaths! Would you rather this war continue?”

Mako fell silent.

“No,” Bolin said weakly.

“Then you’ll stop griping and do your best to help this process go as smoothly as possible.” Marching over to Mako’s bed, she snatched up her bag and stormed through to the next room, slamming the door closed behind her.

 

 

It was getting dark by the time Tenzin called on them to show them to the dining hall. Asami had dressed modestly in a wine-red blouse and black slacks, her thick hair clipped in place low behind her neck, and Mako and Bolin had done their best to appear presentable without being overly ostentatious. 

Tenzin appeared approving as he looked them over before leading the way out of the building. Asami had to admit, Air Temple Island was beautiful. The Reach had its own kind of beauty, but this place was different – it was pure, untouched, spared from the horrors of war. Asami’s chest tightened as she realised it was the first time she’d seen a place that didn’t bear the scars of battle, a place that wasn’t tainted with the blood of innocents.

Despite her nerves, this train of thought put her in a somber mood as she followed Tenzin through stunning gardens and buildings so ancient they seemed to be carved from the very earth itself. The dining hall was considerably more humble than the surrounding temples; a simple wooden building with long, low tables arranged in neat rows. It reminded Asami of the mess hall in the barracks back home, albeit considerably less rowdy.

Everyone in the room rose from their seats as Tenzin swooped in. Amidst the sea of yellow and orange robes, the blue and beige of the southern tribes stood out vividly. They, too, had risen to acknowledge Tenzin’s arrival, and it was only when the monk stood aside to make introductions did Asami get a good look at them.

There were four of them. Tonraq was enormous, and Asami found herself immediately intimidated, though she did her best not to show it. His dark hair was streaked with grey, and though he wore a serious expression, his blue eyes were disarmingly warm – but as they fell upon her, that warmth all but vanished.

To his left were two women: one slender and elegant, with silver hair and pale green eyes; the other quite nearly as tall as Tonraq himself, with the bearing of a soldier and a scowl that could match even Mako’s. Tenzin introduced them as Suyin and Kuvira, supposed advisors to Tonraq, though it was obvious that Kuvira was more of a bodyguard – not that he appeared to need one.

To Tonraq’s right stood a girl who, while shorter than her companions, seemed to radiate power from every fibre. Her shoulders were broad and strong, brown hair cut short just below the line of her jaw, and there was a distinct air of smug confidence about her that somehow both threw and enthralled Asami. The girl's stunningly blue eyes had fallen upon Asami the second Tenzin stepped out of the way, and they hadn’t moved; Asami found it difficult to look away.

“And this is Korra, Tonraq’s daughter,” Tenzin was saying. Asami forced herself back to reality, eager to avoid making an idiot of herself. “To our southern guests, may I present the princess Asami Sato, accompanied by close friends Mako and Bolin.”

Tonraq bowed with surprising grace. “It’s an honour to meet you, your highness,” he said, his voice deep and rumbling and keeping secret anything he might be thinking or feeling.

Asami matched the bow, allowing a smile to tug at her lips. “The honour is mine, Chief Tonraq,” she returned smoothly, despite Korra’s gaze bringing heat up the back of her neck. “I can’t express how grateful I am to be here.”

“Forgive me, but I thought your father would be joining us,” Tonraq said rather stiffly.

“I’m afraid he was too busy to make the trip,” Asami said, suddenly hyperaware of every pair of eyes on her, as if they could see the evidence of the lie scrawled all over her face. “I do hope I can make up for his absence.”

“I’ve no doubt you will,” Tonraq said, the words falling flat and without sincerity. Tenzin invited them all to sit. 

Asami was placed opposite Tonraq, which had been expected, but she was entirely unprepared to be trapped right in Korra’s line of sight. The southern girl watched her with something almost like recognition, though Asami knew that was impossible; some far-reaching memory in the back of her mind reminded her that she’d known Tonraq had a daughter, but she was certain they’d never met, and Asami would never have thought that Tonraq would bring Korra with him. She hoped it was a good sign; if he was planning trouble, surely he wouldn’t be putting his daughter in the middle of it.

The meal was polite, if a little tense. Kuvira was very opinionated, and only a stern look from Tonraq kept her from spouting harsh accusations across the table at Asami. As it was, her insults were thinly veiled at best. Suyin was admittedly delightful – warm and friendly and considerate, everything Asami had been taught that a southerner was not. Even Tonraq was the very soul of courtesy, despite his coldness, and Asami started to feel at least a little more at ease.

Korra, however, didn’t say a word, and her gaze hardly left Asami until they all rose from the table and said their goodnights.

Asami was feeling confident as she, Mako, and Bolin neared their rooms. Tonraq, despite his size, was nowhere near as intimidating as she’d initially thought – still intimidating, just _less_ so – and despite Kuvira’s obvious animosity, they all seemed genuinely intent on making peace. She deliberately avoided thinking about Korra. The memory of that intent stare made the hairs on the back of Asami’s neck stand on end.

As if on cue, as Mako stood aside to let Asami in ahead of him, a voice spoke from the shadows.

“Princess.”

Asami whipped around to find that piercing blue stare on her once again. Mako and Bolin moved immediately between the two women, and Korra actually laughed.

“Call off your pets, will you? I just want to talk.”

Asami touched Mako’s shoulder. “It’s alright,” she murmured.

“No,” he said stiffly. “I’m not leaving you alone with her.”

“We can all go inside, if that’ll keep your guard dog from barking down the whole island,” Korra said, eyeing Mako with a crooked smirk. Asami almost saw Mako’s hair bristling.

“Alright,” she said quickly, before either of the brothers could protest. Turning on her heel, she walked inside, followed eventually by all three.

Asami took a moment to compose herself before she turned to face Korra. Mako and Bolin hovered at her shoulder, though they did their best to appear nonchalant, like Chief Tonraq’s daughter and heir wasn’t currently in the room with them.

For the longest moment of Asami’s life, Korra said nothing; she simply leaned against the wall, calm as you please, her head cocked slightly to the side as she regarded Asami with an infuriatingly unreadable expression. 

Finally, when Asami was on the verge of breaking the silence herself, Korra spoke.

“So what’s the real reason your dad didn’t show?”

“I – what?” Asami stared.

“Come on.” That smirk was back and Asami found her ears growing hot. “You don’t really think anybody believes that His _Majesty_ Hiroshi Sato would send his only daughter all but alone to an island with his sworn enemies, do you?”

Asami’s eyes narrowed.

Korra only grinned at her. “Come on, Princess. Spill.”

“Whatever you think, I _am_ here to try and put a stop to this ridiculous war,” Asami said. Despite her lecturing at Mako and Bolin about not being hostile, something about Korra was putting her on guard – likely the sensation that the southerner was looking right into her. She felt remarkably like a mouse staring down a snake. “That’s what matters.”

Korra only smirked at her again, and Asami found her gaze pulled to the crooked draw of those full lips. “Alright,” she said, pushing languidly away from the wall and pulling the door open. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, then. Sleep tight.” Then she winked – fucking _winked_ – and left, the door sliding closed behind her.

Asami stared after her for a good minute before Mako cleared his throat.

“So she’s a treat,” Bolin said.

Asami turned to them. “That just happened, right?”

They nodded in unison and Asami started to dread the next day’s meeting.


	4. Chapter 4

Asami slept poorly, and she was groggy and out of sorts when Mako woke her for breakfast. She followed the brothers to the dining hall in a half-doze, but she brightened considerably when she sat down and a smiling monk placed a steaming mug of coffee down in front of her.

Tonraq and the others hadn’t appeared for breakfast yet, but Tenzin explained that breakfast was a far less formal occasion than dinner, and everyone tended to come in at their own pace. “They’re surprisingly late risers,” he said of the southerners. “For some reason I didn’t expect that.”

Breakfast was a quiet affair, for which Asami was grateful, and by the time they were ready to begin their first meeting she was starting to feel like herself again.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” Mako asked as they made their way to the hall Tenzin had indicated to them earlier in the morning.

“No,” Asami said, “but we’ll never get anywhere if we wait for everybody to be ready.” Holding her head high, she strode purposefully into the room, where Tenzin, along with his wife and eldest daughter, was waiting.

“Welcome, welcome,” Tenzin said, gesturing for the three to take up seats at one end of the table. “You’ve all met Pema and Jinora.” He gestured to the two and they smiled brightly. “Our southern friends shouldn’t be long –”

Right on cue, the door burst open and in strode Tonraq, his daughter and advisors on his heels.

The southerners silently took up their seats at the opposite end of the table while Asami, Mako and Bolin sat down, the monks sitting between them. Jinora had set up a typewriter and sat with her fingers poised, ready, over the keys; clearly she’d been tasked with recording the meeting.

“Right,” Tenzin said. “Let’s get started.”

It was an exhausting day. Kuvira clearly didn’t agree with the whole situation and went out of her way to dig in at anyone she could, be they northern, southern, or otherwise. Tonraq’s courtesy was strained, and he had a look of perpetual distaste on his face, as if he couldn’t stand to be in the room with Asami for so long. Much of Tenzin and Pema’s energy went into keeping them from starting an all-out war in that room.

Despite the tension, Asami felt she did a good job. She’d been raised with politics, and she’d often negotiated on her father’s behalf. She was especially proud that she’d managed to get by with Korra watching her from across the table. There was something knowing in that smirk of hers and it drove Asami to absolute distraction.

They were just about to pack up for the day when a monk suddenly burst into the room.

“What is the meaning of this?” Tenzin demanded, rising to his feet.

“Apologies, master Tenzin, but there’s someone here! He –”

“ _Get out of my way!_ ”

Asami blanched at the voice that sailed into the room ahead of its owner.

Hiroshi Sato stormed past the monk, his face like a thunderstorm. “Asami!” he roared. “Get away from that table!”

Despite every fibre in her being screaming at her to obey, she calmly remained in her seat. “No, father.”

“Well _that_ explains a lot,” Korra murmured from across the table. Asami ignored her.

“Hiroshi,” Tonraq said flatly, as if to intervene, but Hiroshi interrupted him.

“Don’t you _dare_ talk to me!” he roared, starting toward the table as if with the intent of physically dragging Asami out of that room. “Abducting my _daughter_ , of all the _cowardly_ –”

“There was no _abduction_ , father,” Asami said quickly, showing a great deal more calm than she felt. “You should have figured out by now that I came here of my own free will.”

“You’re lucky that Varrick told me about that letter!” Hiroshi’s eyes were wild with rage and for the first time in her life, Asami felt a flicker of fear as her father stormed toward her. “Spirits only know what these _savages_ would have done –”

Kuvira was on her feet in an instant, and it took all three of her companions to hold her back, though Tonraq’s expression very closely matched hers. “Say that again!” she bellowed, straining against the hands keeping her in place. “Say it to my face, you murderous piece of –”

“ENOUGH!” Tenzin’s voice cracked like thunder, stopping even Hiroshi in his tracks. “I will _not_ have this behaviour on my island! Hiroshi, go back to your ship!”

Hiroshi stared, slack-jawed. “You can’t just -”

“This is _my_ island, Hiroshi. I can do what I want. And right now I want you out of my sight.” Tenzin’s voice had lowered, but his words were reinforced with steel and ice, and even Asami shivered.

“I’m not leaving without Asami,” Hiroshi said stubbornly.

“Yes you are,” Asami said firmly.

Hiroshi was staring at her now, the worst of his rage dissipating. “Asami... darling... please just come home.”

“No. Not until I’m done talking with Tonraq.”

Hiroshi looked helplessly between his daughter and his enemy. “But –”

“This war has gone on long enough!” Asami said, her voice rising as her agitation grew. “Do you _enjoy_ watching your people die? How could you possibly want this to continue? I would do _anything_ to see this mindless violence end!”

“They killed your mother, Asami!”

The mention of her mother stung, and she retorted venomously. “And I’m sure _you’ve_ killed more than enough of their families to call it even, don’t you?”

Hiroshi could only stare at her helplessly.

“Go home, father,” she said, a tremble in her voice, and she couldn’t be sure if it was anger, fear, or sadness that caused it.

Finally Hiroshi accepted defeat, but the look he gave Asami damn near broke her heart. She stood firm despite the tightness in her chest and the hollow in her stomach, watching her father turn and leave.

Silence fell for a long moment before Tenzin’s voice finally broke the spell.

“Tonraq, I need you to take Suyin and Kuvira and go back to your dorm. I would like to speak to Korra and Asami alone.”

All eyes turned to Tenzin, taken aback by the request, but Tenzin said nothing, only waiting patiently for his demand to be acknowledged.

Silently, Tonraq bowed, and then led Suyin and Kuvira from the hall. Bolin cleared his throat and nudged Mako, and though Mako was clearly hesitant to leave Asami, the brothers followed suit.

Asami glanced at Korra, and Korra met her look. A little flash of irrational anger surged in her chest at how casual and nonchalant Korra seemed to be about the whole thing. She was _smirking_ again! For the love of –

“Asami.”

Belatedly realising that she was glaring at Korra, Asami tore her gaze away and looked to Tenzin, indignant heat rising to her cheeks.

“It’s obvious that your father does not want peace.”

Asami could only nod helplessly.

“But you said that you would do anything to see this war end.”

“I would,” she said, her back straightening.

Tenzin’s expression was grave, but he nodded before turning to Korra. “And you, Korra?”

“I talked my father into this, didn’t I?”

Asami’s head whipped back to stare at Korra, who was focussing on Tenzin now. No wonder Tonraq seemed so irked by the situation. She thought she caught the southerner’s neck reddening, but then Tenzin’s voice drew her attention back to him.

“The two of you are going to need to do something big to force your families to unite. Some traditions must be broken –” Here he paused to look pointedly at Asami “- but it seems to me that the only way to bring your people together is a binding union. A marriage.”

The word hung thick in the air between them, and the two women exchanged a bewildered glance.

“Surely you don’t mean –” Asami started.

“Yes,” Tenzin interrupted, “I do. You two must marry. You are the sole heirs to both of your kingdoms; you have no siblings, no other family to speak of. Your parents will not like it, but neither of them seem terribly interested in this peace of yours. You two, however, have proven how much you desire it. Between Asami apparently deceiving Hiroshi to come here and Korra talking circles around Tonraq to convince him to send that letter, it is obvious you are the ones who care the most.” He levelled a steady gaze onto the both of them. “This is my decision. Do with it what you will.” With that, he turned and left, leaving Asami and Korra to gape dumbly at one another.

“So when do you think the Master of Air Temple Island lost his shit entirely?” Korra asked weakly, after the silence stretching between them had started to grow oppressive.

“Probably around the time my father did,” Asami said, and for once Korra fought back her grin.

“You don’t think... I mean... could that _work_?”

Asami stared. “You’re not seriously considering this.”

Korra seemed to shake off her shock. “Tenzin’s right,” she said seriously, all traces of that smug arrogance gone. “Our parents will never see eye to eye. They need to be brought up short. What better way to knock their heads together than to force them to be in-laws?”

“Some things don’t require force,” Asami protested.

Korra gave a sharp, barking laugh, the sound bitter. “Were you in here just now? Our fathers’ heads are so thick we could drop this entire island on them and they’d walk away without a scratch.”

“But... but where would we go? How would it work? It couldn’t possibly –”

“What’s the alternative, Princess?” Korra snapped suddenly. “We just let our people continue to die? We just sit back and say ‘oh well, we tried’, and forget about the whole thing? I don’t know about you, but I’m not willing to watch any more of my friends die for this _bullshit_!”

All at once, Asami was back in that charred and blackened battlefield, and the dying soldier was staring up at her as if she was the only thing in the world, clasping her hand like it was her sole anchor, the only thing keeping her alive.

What did that girl die for, if Asami wasn’t willing to make sacrifices of her own?

“Alright,” she said finally.

Korra’s eyes widened. “What?”

Asami straightened. “I’m willing if you are, Korra. If I can keep even one more child from losing their mother or father to this war, then...” she trailed off, a lump rising in her throat barely too big to swallow back.

Korra’s eyes narrowed briefly, as if she expected some sort of trick. But when Asami only lifted her chin and met her gaze unflinchingly, her lips fell back into that old smirk again as if it were her default expression. It probably was.

“You’re not afraid?”

“Are you kidding? I’m fucking terrified.”

Korra laughed again, but this time it lacked an edge – it was genuine. “That makes two of us, Princess.” She paused for a moment, lips pursing slightly. “Alright. We’re agreed, then?”

Asami nodded and Korra grinned.

“We’d better figure out where to go from here then, _darling_.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for your comments! I appreciate them all (and only gush over them a lot) and you're all awesome and I'm stoked you're enjoying the story so far!

If Mako had been angry about coming to Air Temple Island, he was nothing short of a raging lunatic when Asami told him what was coming next.

“Absolutely not!” he roared. “Are you _insane_?”

“I’m starting to think that might be the case, yes,” Asami said, calmly packing her bag as Bolin tried to calm his brother down.

“At least it’s a solution, Mako,” the younger brother said, moving between the two of them so that Mako couldn’t just grab Asami and carry her back home as he seemed on the verge of doing. “You saw what happened in there, bro. What other choice is there?”

“Don’t you _dare_ condone this!” Asami had seen him angry before, but this was something else entirely. She would have been scared if it wasn’t Mako. His words grated on her, though – he sounded far too like Hiroshi had back in the council room.

She turned and rounded on Mako, livid. “And don’t _you_ dare think that you have _any_ right to tell me what to do and what not to do!” she snarled. “You think I’m going into this without a second thought? I’m _terrified_ , Mako! I’m about to go marry Chief Tonraq’s smug-ass daughter! You think I’m looking forward to presenting her to my father? Besides, she could change her mind halfway there and just do away with me! You really think I _want_ any of this?”

“Sorry to interrupt,” a voice said from the door, and they all turned to see Korra standing there. “We should be going as soon as possible. A lot of ground to cover, you know.” There was something strange about the look she was giving Asami, but it was indecipherable, at least to her bride-to-be.

“Before your father finds out what happened and comes running back to drag you home?” Asami asked good-naturedly. Korra still set her on edge, but she’d come to the conclusion that trying to get along with her would make the entire process a lot easier.

“I’m amazed he hasn’t figured it out already,” Korra said dryly. “Kuvira was watching me like a damn hawk every second until they left. They know something’s up, they just can’t figure out what.”

“Probably just as well,” Mako muttered.

Korra smirked at him. “Well you’re not _wrong_.”

“How did you convince them to go on ahead of you?” Asami asked.

“I told them Tenzin invited me to stay a little while longer and I took him up on it. Dad knows how I get when it comes to the war. It’s not the first time I’ve had to take some time away from it.”

“Were you eloping then, too?” Bolin asked with a grin.

Korra seemed surprised by his good humour, but her answering grin was genuine. “Oh yeah, didn’t I mention? This is my third attempt.”

Bolin seemed satisfied with the reciprocation, and he gave Mako a rather pleased look. Mako ignored him, glaring at Korra.

“I wouldn’t get too used to not having Kuvira around,” Asami said, casting Mako a pointed look. 

He flushed slightly, but stood his ground. “I’ve every reason to be wary.”

Korra shrugged. “I mean you’re welcome to continue hauling those prejudices around, but whatever you think, it doesn’t change what’s happening.”

Mako’s jaw ticked and Asami laid a hand on his arm. “Mako.”

He tore his eyes off Korra to look at her.

“You need to trust me,” Asami said, her voice soft. “I know that what we’re doing isn’t exactly safe by anybody’s standards, and a lot of people aren’t going to like it. I need you on my side.”

Mako’s expression became pained, but he finally gave in with a weighted sigh. “Alright,” he said, “but I’ll go ahead and continue to worry quietly to myself, if it’s all the same to you.”

Asami laid her hand on his cheek with an affectionate smile. “You’re stupid,” she said.

“I know.”

“Well, at least you can admit it.” Korra jerked her thumb back over her shoulder. “I’ll be waiting by the airship when you’re ready.” The southerner turned and left them to their packing.

Asami turned back to her bag, and while Mako started shoving his own belongings away, Bolin sidled up beside her. “ _Are_ you sure about this?” he asked quietly.

Asami sighed. “No,” she whispered back, “but it’s a chance, at least.”

Bolin just nodded and Asami found herself profoundly grateful for his easy acceptance. It provided a nice counterweight to Mako’s constant fretting.

As promised, Korra was waiting by the anchored airship when they made their way out to the edge of the island. “Need a hand?” she asked Mako, who always seemed to insist on carrying everybody’s luggage, for some reason.

“I’m fine,” Mako said shortly, but Korra rolled her eyes and took one of the bags from him anyway. “Alright, tough guy,” she said, slinging the bag over her shoulder before turning and making her way up the ramp and into the ship.

Asami answered Mako’s bewildered look with a shrug and followed Korra inside.

 

Things were more than a little awkward after they took to the air.

Korra insisted on joining Asami, Mako and Bolin as they sat at the table in companionable silence; Mako had his nose stuck in a book (and he wasn’t being very subtle about watching Korra over the top of it) while Bolin played with Pabu and Asami leaned over her sketchbook, absorbed in her work.

For a while Korra seemed content to just sit, staring out the window with her chair pushed back onto its rear legs and her fur boots resting on the table. Asami hardly noticed her; as long as nobody was bickering or exchanging snide comments, she was happy to concentrate on the page in front of her and the streamlined race car she lovingly sketched.

“What’s that?”

Asami started violently. She hadn’t even noticed Korra moving to take up the seat beside her and peer over at what she was drawing.

“Uh... it’s a car.”

Korra rolled her eyes. “No, really?”

Asami flushed, irritated but strangely flustered by Korra’s sudden attention. “It... it’s just a concept. Something to do in my spare time.”

Korra arched an eyebrow, lifting her eyes from the page to give Asami an almost quizzical look. “I’d say it’s more than a hobby,” she said. “It’s really good. Do you have any others?”

Asami tore her gaze away, her lower lip catching between her teeth as she flipped through the pages of her sketchbook, angling it toward Korra slightly. She had no idea how technically minded Korra was, and some of the designs were complex, but for her part she at least _acted_ like she understood. “Impressive,” she said eventually. “That’s quite a talent.”

“Thanks,” Asami said, keeping her eyes on her book and trying not to think about how hot her ears had grown.

The sound of a forcefully turned page made both of them look up at Mako, who was peering at them over the top of his book with narrowed eyes.

Korra snorted loudly, but moved away from the table, leaving the three alone.

Asami waited until she was gone, then tore a blank page from her book, screwed it up, and hurled it across the table at Mako. He hid behind his book with a startled yelp. “What?” he demanded.

“This is difficult enough for everybody without you being weird about her _talking_ to me,” Asami said flatly.

“Seriously,” Bolin piped up, staring at Mako. “She was just being nice. What gives?”

“Nothing,” Mako grumbled. “You just... you never show anybody your sketches.”

Asami flushed but did her best to disregard it. “Considering we’re going to be married, I kind of thought she might as well be an exception,” she said scathingly. “What does it matter who I show them to?”

“It doesn’t,” he said shortly, slamming his book closed and getting to his feet. “Forget I said anything.” With that he stomped out of the room, leaving a bewildered silence in his wake.

“Seriously, what’s his deal?” Bolin asked.

Asami could only stare at the door, baffled.

 

Asami was making her way to her room for the night when she found Korra waiting outside her door, leaning casually against the wall as she idly examined her nails. “Hey,” she said when she saw Asami. “Can we talk?”

Something about being alone with Korra raised a red flag in Asami’s head despite herself. She almost hated herself for it. Korra hadn’t done anything to deserve her suspicion, outside of being far too confident (the word ‘arrogant’ popped into Asami’s mind, but she quickly dismissed it).

She must have taken too long to reply, because Korra was speaking again. “I’m not going to ‘do away with you’, if that’s what you’re worried about, Princess.”

Asami cleared her throat awkwardly. “No, it’s not...” She stopped herself before she could finish the lie. “Never mind. Come in.” She opened her door and stepped inside, waiting for Korra to follow before closing it again.

Korra moved to the middle of the room, casting a disinterested glance about her surroundings before facing Asami. “Look, I know this is weird.”

Asami arched an eyebrow, but said nothing, waiting for Korra to continue.

“I thought joining you and your friends might not be such a bad idea. I mean, marriage –” she choked on the word a little, but pressed on “- is one thing, but we’d be a better example if all of us could get along.”

Asami vaguely recognised an apology in there somewhere, and she shook her head. “Don’t worry about Mako,” she said, folding her arms. Korra’s eyes followed the motion, but she said nothing. “He’s just... stubborn. Set in his ways. He’ll come around, I’m sure.”

Korra didn’t respond immediately, her lips forming a pensive sort of pout. Asami found herself distracted watching the shifts in Korra’s expression; her thoughts were almost tangible, scrawled plainly across her face, but it was like reading another language. It was right there in front of her but she couldn’t make sense of it.

“I want to spend time with you.”

She was so occupied with her thoughts it took a moment to process what Korra had said. “What?”

Korra smirked. “I said I want to spend time with you.” She reached up to rub her hand awkwardly over the back of her neck and Asami was surprised to find the gesture endearing. “Look... this isn’t exactly what either of us had planned when we tried to force peace down our parents’ throats. But that doesn’t mean we can’t make the best of it. You seem like a decent person, and even if... even if ours will be a political marriage, that doesn’t mean it has to be an unhappy one.”

It took Asami several moments to gather her confused thoughts, but when she did, she couldn’t really find any reason to disagree. “You’re right, it doesn’t.”

Korra smiled at her then, and the expression was so warm and so inviting that Asami couldn’t help matching it. “It would also help if we could convince people that we’re not doing this only for political reasons,” Korra added.

“Wait, what?”

“It’s not going to be enough if people think this is all political.” Without invitation, Korra moved to sit down on the edge of Asami’s bed, an ankle perching atop the opposite knee. “I’ve been thinking about it, right? We’re supposed to be setting an example, and ‘grin and bear it’ isn’t a particularly convincing one. But if we can persuade everyone that we’re really, genuinely in love... it might make the concept of peace between our people that much easier to swallow.”

Asami had fallen into the chair in front of her vanity while Korra spoke, partly stunned, but mostly thoughtful. “And if we can at least become friends, it’ll make it that much easier,” she said.

Korra grinned. “Exactly.”

Though it made sense, there was something about lying to her people that made Asami more than a little uncomfortable. “Do you really think it’s a good idea to found a peace based on deception?”

Korra’s expression fell slightly, but there was understanding in it. “I don’t like the idea of lying about it to my parents or my friends,” she admitted, “but like you said, if it can keep even one child from becoming an orphan... I think a little deception is worth it.”

Asami drew in a breath before nodding firmly.

Korra’s features split into that crooked grin again. “Bet you anything you won’t be able to convince Mako of it, though.”

Asami made an indelicate sound. “He’s stubborn, but I assure you, I could convince him that the sky was purple, given enough time.”

Korra rose to her feet. “You convince him that we’ve genuinely fallen in love, I might even consider giving you a kiss for the trouble.” She winked and then she left, leaving Asami to gape after her.


	6. Chapter 6

Getting along with Korra was a lot easier than Asami had anticipated.

Mako continued to sulk about it, but for the remainder of the trip back to the Reach, Asami and Korra were practically inseparable. Although Korra still watched her with that same unnerving intensity, she was at least a little more subtle about it, and Asami was able to either shrug it off or ignore it entirely – and once she did, she was surprised by how easy it was to be around the southerner.

Korra had a quick, easy humour, which won her Bolin’s approval almost immediately. She wasn’t shy about voicing her opinions or her thoughts – but unlike Kuvira, she wasn’t aggressive about it, always leaving room for others to speculate. It was this that struck Asami the most – the willingness to actually listen to what others had to say, particularly people who she’d been raised to consider her enemies.

“You’re very... open-minded about all of this,” Asami remarked on the final day of their journey. She and Korra were hiding on the observation deck – both from Mako and from the various airmen who looked at Korra with far more animosity than made Asami comfortable. To his credit, Mako had tried to speak to them about keeping their prejudices to themselves, but Asami rather thought his own prejudice made him a poor role model in this particular situation.

Korra sat backwards on a chair, her arms folded on its back and her chin resting atop them. She glanced over at Asami, who sat in the seat beside her, her sketch book open but forgotten on the table. “Surprised?” she asked, amusement in her voice.

“Well... yes,” Asami admitted sheepishly.

Korra shrugged. “I could say the same about you.”

“It’s just... when Tenzin suggested this, I never even once considered that I might actually be able to _get along_ with you.” Asami felt her ears grow warm beneath Korra’s gaze. “It’s nice.”

“We’re only a couple days in,” Korra reminded her. “The honeymoon stage, if you will.” Her grin was contagious and Asami swatted at her.

“So you don’t agree?” Asami asked with a little toss of her head, letting her loose hair fall down over her shoulder.

That intense stare returned for a moment before Korra answered. “I do agree,” she said seriously. Asami tried to ignore it, but her ears grew still hotter despite her efforts. She started to fervently wish that she didn’t _have_ ears – they seemed to be the only part of her that reddened beneath Korra’s scrutiny. 

She floundered for something else to say, but Korra spared her the trouble. “Have you thought about how this is going to go down?”

“What, presenting you to my father?”

“Preferably without him trying to kill me, yeah.”

Asami gave a humourless chuckle. “I think I have an idea, but we might have to conceal your presence for a few days.”

Korra’s eyebrows shot up. “That could be difficult. I kind of stand out.”

“Yes, I noticed that.”

“And your whole crew knows I’m here. How will you keep them from running their mouths?”

“With difficulty, I imagine.” She was confident that she could do it, though – Mako had tried and failed, but Mako had never been the most charismatic speaker.

Korra’s expression was sceptical. “You certainly have a lot of confidence in your abilities,” she said, as if she’d seen right into Asami’s thoughts.

Asami smiled sweetly at her. “Trust me.”

Korra snorted a laugh. “File under ‘things I never thought I’d hear from Asami Sato’.”

Asami couldn’t keep her smile from spreading into a grin. “It _is_ a little outrageous, isn’t it?”

“This whole thing is outrageous, but that’s probably a good sign.”

“How do you figure?”

Korra’s head tilted to the side slightly, but those piercing blue eyes never left Asami’s face. “I guess I just have a lot of faith in the ridiculous.”

 

 

Asami’s request that the crew keep Korra’s presence in the Reach a secret was, predictably, met with scepticism, but they seemed more ready to listen to her than to Mako – particularly after seeing how much time she was spending with Korra on the airship. Emphasising the need for peace certainly seemed to do the trick – she knew many of them had lost friends and family to the war, and, luckily, none of them appeared the type to cling blindly to revenge fantasies in the face of peace.

“So how are we going to get Korra inside without being recognised?” Bolin asked as they neared the palace, waiting for the ship to dock.

“She’s putting on an airman’s uniform,” Asami shrugged. “As long as she keeps her head down and doesn’t stop to talk to anyone, she should be fine.”

“And I have to say, the uniform does me a _lot_ of favours.”

They turned as Korra approached, clad in the spare uniform of one of the older midshipmen. “I mean,” she continued, smoothing her hands over the jacket, “it’s a little tighter than I’m used to, but I’m starting to wonder why I never wore a uniform before.”

Asami rolled her eyes in an effort to keep from staring. Korra did look good in the uniform – good enough that her stomach seemed intent on tying itself in knots at the sight. 

Bolin offered a polite round of applause and Korra grinned, twirling her airman’s cap in her hands. “You think this will work?”

Asami moved over to her, taking the cap and carefully tucking the southerner’s (incredibly soft) hair into it. She was still recognisable to Asami, but Asami had also spent several days in her company; the only other person who might know what she looked like was Hiroshi, and Asami had no way of knowing just how closely he’d looked when he was screaming Air Temple Island down around his ears.

“It better,” Asami said mildly, “or you’ll probably end up dead.”

Korra snorted. “Thanks.”

“We’re ready to land.” Mako approached them, sparing Korra only a brief glance. “How do you want to do this?”

“I’ll need to go straight to my father,” Asami said rather ruefully. _That_ was going to be a fun conversation. “Korra, you can help Bolin with the bags – that way you probably won’t be required to stop and talk to anyone, and Bolin can show you straight to your room.”

“What about me?” Mako asked.

“I need you with me when I talk to my father.”

He looked uncertain, but nodded. Poor Mako, Asami thought. Always so eager to be there – he had no idea what he was getting into. “Do we get to know what your plan is for talking Hiroshi into this?” he asked instead.

“No,” Asami said, avoiding Korra’s gaze. “Not yet.” In truth, Korra already knew, but she couldn’t tell Mako. He’d never agree to it otherwise.

Asami drew in a deep breath as the airmen around them prepared to lower the ramp and disembark. Her heart was fluttering wildly in her chest and she desperately willed it to calm down, irrationally convinced that it was audible to every ear in the city.

As soon as the ramp was down, Bolin and Korra picked up the bags and headed resolutely into the palace while Asami and Mako followed. The four split off from each other in the entrance hall and as Asami and Mako neared Hiroshi’s office, Mako laid a hand on her shoulder. “You’ll do fine,” he said, and she cast him a grateful – and slightly guilty – smile.

Hiroshi was back at his damn war table when Asami and Mako marched into his office. Varrick stood at his side and Zhu Li hovered in the background, that constant, steady presence behind Varrick’s unpredictable zeal.

“Asami!” Hiroshi exclaimed. Asami’s heart tugged painfully in her chest; he looked so relieved.

“Well if it isn’t our would-be peacemaker,” Varrick remarked grandly. “Back in one piece, even!”

Asami spared only a passing glance for Varrick before focusing on Hiroshi. “Can I talk to you, father? Alone?”

Varrick turned to Hiroshi, who nodded. Varrick flashed Asami a greasy smile, bowed floridly, and then wordlessly left, Zhu Li on his heels.

“Asami, about what happened –”

“Please, father. I need to speak.” Asami breathed in deep, fighting to steady her nerves. “The talks didn’t really go well,” she started, “and I wanted to say I’m sorry. You were right. It was a fruitless endeavour. But... something happened while I was gone.”

Hiroshi was watching her with a confused mix of relief and worried expectation. She pressed on.

“I realised that peace between the north and the south will never happen, and I... I started to think about my future. Since this is the life I’m destined to live, I thought... it might as well be a happy one, as happy as I can make it.” As she spoke, she reached out and took Mako’s hand.

Spirits, it was hard to avoid Mako’s stunned staring. She could see it from the corner of her eye, and she gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, every bone in her body regretting that she hadn’t told him what was going to happen.

Hiroshi’s gaze dropped to their joined hands and realisation flooded over him. His worn features broke into a broad smile. “Asami... really?”

It had been obvious for a very long time that Hiroshi had intended Mako and Asami to marry. She couldn’t be sure when he started planning it – whether it was the reason he had them spend so much time together as children, or if it was a result of that – but he’d never been subtle about it. So often Asami had rejected the idea – she loved Mako, but her love for him was so platonic that she couldn’t imagine it ever being anything more.

Hiroshi’s delight brought a lump to Asami’s throat. She hated lying to him like this, especially when the truth would likely send him into a blind rage, but it was the only way for this to work. It seemed that going around her father was a recurring theme in her fight for peace.

“Yes, father. I’d like your permission to marry.”

“Of course! Of _course_ ,” Hiroshi said, finally moving around the war table. He caught the both of them in a crushing embrace, and the look that Mako cast her over Hiroshi’s shoulder was pure venom. She was really going to get an earful for this.

 

 

“Why didn’t you _tell_ me you were going to put me on the spot like that?” Mako fumed.

They were in the room that Korra had been given; Korra lounged on her bed, stifling her laughter against a closed fist, and Bolin sat on the floor with Pabu as Mako paced back and forth in front of Asami.

“Because you never would have agreed to it,” Asami said in her most reasonable tone. “You didn’t really think I was going to try and ask for my father’s blessing if he knew it was _Korra_ I intended to marry, did you?”

“Well... it _did_ seem a little optimistic,” Mako admitted. “But how are you going to explain showing up to your betrothal ceremony with Korra on your arm?”

“Once we make the announcement, it won’t matter,” Asami said. “A royal engagement can’t be broken after it’s been made public. You know that. The second we appear on that stage, there’s no going back.”

“This is great,” Korra chortled. “So much cloak and dagger! I had no idea you northerners could be this much fun.”

“I’m so glad you’re enjoying yourself,” Mako seethed from behind gritted teeth.

“Oh lighten up, will you?” Korra sat up, crossing her legs. “In case you’ve forgotten, we’re the good guys in this situation. What we’re trying to do is a _good_ thing. You know, stopping a war? Saving lives? Any of this ring a bell?”

Mako glanced at Asami, who arched a slender eyebrow at him, silently supporting Korra’s words. He sighed, but nodded. “You’re right.”

“Make a note of that,” Bolin said from behind them. “An apology from Mako is like seeing a flying platypus-bear! Once in a lifetime, if you’re lucky!”

“I didn’t _apologise_ ,” Mako grumbled. “I still don’t like that I was lied to, but... Korra is right. I forgot what it is we’re trying to do here.”

Asami reached out to lay her hand on Mako’s arm. “I’m sorry,” she said as he glanced at her. “I just assumed you wouldn’t agree to it if you knew.”

“You were probably right,” Mako surrendered. “Anyway, it’s done now. What’s our next move?”

“Father’s arranging the engagement party for tomorrow night,” Asami said, “so we pretty much just need to keep Korra hidden until then.”

“What are we going to do about clothes?”

They all turned to look at Bolin, who stared back at them with wide-eyed innocence. “Well, it’s a formal event, so she can’t very well show up like _that_.” He gestured to the casual sleeveless shirt and loose pants Korra was wearing. “And we can’t get a tailor to fit her for anything – too risky. And there’s the matter of colours. Will she wear the colours of the north, to blend in, or will she wear the colours of the south, to drive the point home?”

“I think I know someone who can help,” Mako said. “He’s... not _exactly_ a tailor, but he knows his way around clothes, and he’s a friend. He can be convinced to keep quiet.”

“I didn’t know you had any friends,” Bolin grinned. Mako ignored him.

“I’ll go get him.” He started for the door and Bolin scrambled to his feet.

“Wait! I’m coming! I need to see this friend with my own eyes!”

 

 

Mako’s friend was not even slightly what Asami had expected.

The short, skinny young man wandered in behind Mako with an air so relaxed it almost seemed to emphasise Mako’s stiff-backed seriousness all the more. “This is Wu,” Mako said as Bolin stumbled in behind them with several rolls of material clutched in his arms.

“Princess Asami!” Wu said grandly, offering a florid bow. “ _Such_ an honour to meet you. You’re even more beautiful up close and personal.” His grin was probably supposed to be charming, but it only served to set Asami on edge; soon enough, it was aimed at Korra. “And this must be our lovely guest! They really supply some good product in the south, huh?”

“Korra,” Asami said, surprised by the flatness of her tone and the irritation that boiled up in her chest. “Her name is Korra.”

Korra gave her a searching glance before she was forcibly dragged to the middle of the room by Wu. “Alright, Korra,” he said, circling her with a serious, pensive look. “Let’s get you suited up for this little _soiree_.”

Hours later, Wu stood back to look Korra over with a critical look. 

“Well, it’s not exactly high fashion, but it’s _pretty good_ , if I do say so myself.”

They’d decided to go for the traditional blue and beige of the south. It would make Korra stick out like a sore thumb, which worried Asami more than a little, but ‘driving the point home’, as Bolin had said, was definitely something they were intent on doing.

Asami was a little rattled by the way her stomach tightened and her heart fluttered at the sight of Korra in her new outfit. It was simple enough – high-cut around the neck, falling open at the shoulders only to close loosely around her forearms, straight and simple and falling down to her ankles. There was something about the laid back, rough-and-tumble southerner in a dress that brought that damnable heat back to Asami’s ears – particularly when Korra looked at her, whether to grin sheepishly or to roll her eyes at Wu.

It was well into the night by the time they finished. Mako and Bolin both left to walk Wu back home, and Asami had barely closed the door before Korra started to take off her dress. When Asami turned, she was greeted by the sight of smooth, dark skin pulled taut over hard muscle; Korra was facing away from her, and she only realised she was staring at that _incredibly_ toned back when the southerner started to turn. Asami whipped around to face the wall, face aflame. “What are you _doing_?”

Korra laughed behind her. “Such a _prude_ , Princess,” she teased. Asami deeply resented the playful tone. “You’re probably going to have to work on that, you know.”

“We’re not married yet,” Asami choked out, fighting valiantly to suppress her blush, though she felt it crawling very obviously up the back of her neck.

Korra chuckled. “No, I guess we aren’t.”

“I should...” Asami reached for the door, trembling hands fumbling with the handle. “It’s late.”

“Alright,” Korra said easily, her grin apparent in her voice. “Goodnight, Princess.”

Asami murmured her goodnight and fled.

Sleep did not come easily. Try though she might, Asami couldn’t pull her thoughts away from that fleeting glance of Korra’s half-naked body, and the memory was feeding a familiar – if surprising – ache between her thighs. 

Whatever she’d been expecting when she’d made the decision to get along with Korra, it hadn’t been _this_. She had clung desperately to the hope that the blushing and the fluttering and the _tension_ had only been out of nerves or unfamiliarity; but now that she was lying in bed, unable to sleep because the sight of Korra’s bare torso had turned her on _so much_ , she rather begrudgingly let go of that hope.

Stubborn though she was, after several hours of tossing and turning it became clear that Asami would never fall asleep unless she did something about it.

Wetting her lips, she let her eyes fall closed, her hand trailing down her torso and hitching up the fabric of her nightdress. Her breath caught slightly as her fingertips were met with slick heat; her thighs fell apart as the slightest touch sent a wave of pleasure crashing over her, her back arching away from the mattress.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth to needlessly silence herself, though the sound of her own erratic breaths wouldn’t be stifled, and only seemed to magnify her sensitivity. “ _Spirits_ ,” she whispered huskily, and the sound of her own voice so strained and breathless brought a hot blush to her cheeks. Her free hand lifted to thread her fingers back through her hair, her head tipping back into her pillow as a throaty groan forced its way free.

She tried to avoid thinking about Korra. The idea of touching herself to the thought of the southerner was mortifying; but no matter how hard she tried, her treacherous brain always found a way to return to that image burning its way into her memory, and before she could stop herself she was imagining Korra’s firm hands on her, Korra’s eager tongue dragging over hypersensitive skin, Korra’s fingers slipping deep inside her, hungry, relentless…

Asami didn’t last long, and when her orgasm crashed over her the force of it left her breathless and trembling. For a long while she lay there staring at the ceiling, trying to get her breath back; when she did, she rolled over, bewildered and embarrassed, and let sleep finally take her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :D


	7. Chapter 7

The palace was abuzz with life and energy and try though she might, Asami couldn’t quite bring herself to feel the excitement of her guests.

Part of her was still plagued by thoughts of the night before, but mostly she was just anxious. This wasn’t going to go well and she prayed to whatever spirits might be listening that everybody - Korra in particular - would walk away from this unscathed.

Asami had been so busy preparing for the party that she hadn’t seen Korra all day. It may have been a tiny bit deliberate. The thought of seeing the southerner while those thoughts were still fresh in her mind… she shuddered as she made her way to the raised stage above the ballroom, anxiously smoothing her hands over the smooth burgundy fabric of her dress.

She was the first to reach the stage overhanging the ballroom; Hiroshi would be announcing them from down on the floor, for which Asami was eternally grateful. It would be much harder for him to drag Korra away from down there. She paced anxiously back and forth, wringing her hands as she waited.

“My my,” a voice said from behind her. “Aren’t we the jittery one?”

Asami turned and cursed the heat that rushed to her face as her eyes met Korra’s. “And you aren’t?” she asked, trying to ignore it while resisting the urge to let her gaze flicker appreciatively over the other’s figure.

Korra grinned, but it was strained. “I’m ready to soil myself,” she said. “I’m about to walk into a room full of people who will probably want to kill me on sight.”

“Did anyone see you?”

“I don’t think so.”

Asami nodded, drawing in a deep breath. It did little to steady her nerves.

“Hey.”

She started slightly as she felt Korra’s hand on her shoulder and turned to meet those steady blue eyes, taken aback by the gentle reassurance she saw there.

“It’ll be fine.” Korra tried another grin, and this time it seemed more genuine. “One of us might end the night with a knife in the back, but what’s a party without a few stabbings?”

Asami laughed. “Not a party at all.”

Korra’s hand lingered where it was for a long moment before she finally let it fall back to her side. “Do you know how you’re going to handle your dad… you know, after?”

Asami turned her gaze to the heavy curtains currently keeping them out of sight of the ballroom. “No,” she sighed. “He won’t be able to do a lot about it, but even so…”

“You don’t want to disappoint him.”

Asami smiled bitterly. “It’s stupid, isn’t it? He’s spent almost my entire life disappointing me.”

Korra shrugged. “Even the people we love are capable of being absolute idiots. I’ve been trying to talk my dad out of this war since I was thirteen.”

Asami stared at her. “Really? Thirteen?”

“I was exposed to it from an early age.”

Asami opened her mouth to pursue the subject, but then Hiroshi’s voice boomed from the room beyond the curtain and she felt the blood rush from her face.

She turned to face the curtain, squaring her shoulders and breathing deeply while Hiroshi made his speech. She hardly heard it; her pulse was pounding in her ears and she felt light-headed. Was this what fainting felt like?

Then Korra was beside her, and her warm hand was clasping hers firmly. Asami found her fingers squeezing a little harder than they probably should have, but the southerner’s sturdy presence at her side brought far more comfort than she could have anticipated.

“And now, dear friends and esteemed colleagues,” Hiroshi announced, “your princess and my beloved daughter would introduce to you her betrothed!”

The curtain drew back and Asami strode resolutely out onto the balcony with Korra at her side. Almost immediately, a baffled hush fell over the crowd. Asami’s friendship with Mako had not gone unnoticed; Hiroshi clearly hadn’t been the only one to make assumptions.

“Friends,” Asami started, and she was surprised by the steadiness of her own voice. “I stand before you tonight not only to announce my engagement, but also to appeal to your good hearts.”

Korra’s fingers tightened around hers, and she couldn’t be sure for whom the hold was supposed to be reassuring. She kept her eyes stubbornly away from her father as she continued.

“For as long as any of us can remember, our war with the south has taken loved ones from us at every turn, ripping our homes apart and leaving our land stained with the blood of generations.” At the mention of the south, an uneasy tittering erupted among the guests, but Asami ignored it and pressed on. “Very recently, I made a trip to Air Temple Island, and there I met with Chief Tonraq of the Southern Tribes.” 

The tittering erupted into murmuring. 

“And while I was there, I had the privilege of meeting his daughter, Korra.” Here she spared a glance for the woman at her side and was surprised to find those eyes already upon her. Korra’s lips twitched into a tiny smile, and Asami felt a rush of courage as she turned back to her guests, most of whom had apparently, by this point, figured out enough to appear outright scandalized. “Of all the things I expected to find on that island, I can assure you that love was not one of them. However, the best kind of love is often unexpected, hitting you hard enough to steal your breath away, and that, friends, is what has happened to me.”

Finally, Asami let her gaze fall upon her father. Hiroshi’s eyes were bulging, his jaw slack and his face growing redder with each passing second. She kept a level expression as she spoke, unflinchingly holding his gaze. “I hereby announce my engagement to Korra of the Southern Tribes, and will henceforth have it known that any attack on her home or her countrymen will be seen as a deliberate slight against her personally, and the perpetrators will be treated as traitors. However, I do not think it will come to that. I have faith in you, friends, and I know that I’m not the only one aware that it is past time for this war to end.”

With that, she turned and led Korra from the balcony. The curtain dropped closed behind them and all of the fear and weakness that she couldn’t show before washed over her in a flood; she leaned heavily against a wall, visibly trembling.

“So that seemed to go well,” Korra said mildly.

Asami gave a weak laugh. “I’d watch my back, if I were you.”

“No need to tell me twice.” Korra seemed to hesitate briefly before moving closer. “Are you okay?”

Without thinking, Asami reached for her, taking hold of those reassuring hands. “I think so. They weren’t happy.”

“They’ll come around to the idea.”

“You think so?”

“Not really. You northerners are stubborn as _hell_.”

Asami laughed again, and it felt better this time – fuller, more real. “I can’t really deny that.”

_“Asami!”_

Her blood ran cold as her father appeared in the doorway. “Explain,” he said coldly, his infuriated gaze falling flat upon Korra.

“I thought I made it quite clear, father.” Once again, Asami managed to pull up a mask of cool composure as she straightened. “Korra and I are getting married.”

“What about Mako?”

“What about him? I didn’t say anything about wanting to marry Mako. You arrived at that conclusion yourself.”

Hiroshi gaped at her.

“I didn’t want to lie to you,” Asami said then, and her regret was clear in her voice. “But you never would have listened to me otherwise." That seemed to be a recurring theme in her life as of late. "You’re so desperate for revenge that you can’t see how this war is tearing both our kingdoms apart.”

“But... Asami, _this_?” He gestured helplessly at Korra, who raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. “Surely you can’t be serious. A _woman_? A daughter of the _south_?”

“I’ve never been so serious.” Asami’s fingers intertwined with Korra’s and she reached her free arm over to grasp at the southerner’s bicep. “After what happened on Air Temple Island, it was obvious that neither you nor Tonraq would ever see eye to eye. And Korra...” She swallowed a little, surprised by the honesty in her tone. “She wanted peace as much as I did, and we got to know each other, and then...”

“You’re not saying... you really do love her?”

It was what they’d agreed on, Asami knew – convincing everybody that what they were doing was out of love as much as it was a desire for peace. Even so, Asami felt a guilty twinge as she nodded. “Yes.” Whatever she felt for Korra – and she couldn’t deny that she _did_ feel something – she thought it far too early to consider it love.

“I’ve never met anybody like Asami, your majesty.” Asami was torn from her thoughts as Korra’s voice sounded for the first time in Hiroshi’s presence and she turned to stare at the shorter woman. “She is, quite easily, the most caring, considerate, incredible woman I’ve ever known – or could ever hope to know,” Korra continued. “Our marriage will carry with it certain political benefits that we both want, that’s true, but there’s absolutely no denying that on some level, it _is_ a selfish act. There is nobody in this world I would rather pledge my life to.”

Colour rose in Korra’s dark cheeks as she spoke and she kept her eyes firmly upon Hiroshi, as if too embarrassed to look at Asami. Despite herself, Asami couldn’t help but wonder if there was some measure of truth to those words.

Hiroshi stared helplessly between the two of them, and then he simply shut down. His expression stilled, his jaw set, and his eyes hardened. Asami’s heart wrenched in her chest; she’d seen that look before, when her mother had died. Hiroshi was closing himself off from her.

“The law is clear,” he said flatly. “There is nothing I can do to call off this engagement. I will pull my forces from the south at once – but,” he said, his gaze turning back to Korra, “rest assured that if your father so much as glances toward the Reach, I will descend upon him with all my might, and then the fate of our kingdoms will _truly_ be decided.” With that he turned and walked stiffly back down the stairs.

Asami barely had time to let the tension drop from her shoulders before Korra’s arms were around her. For a fleeting moment she was stunned by the gesture; but then the rush of emotion that Korra had somehow predicted hit Asami and she pressed her face into Korra’s shoulder, clasped her arms tight around the southerner’s middle, and wept.

She had no idea how long they stood there, but Korra’s hold never once wavered, and when she finally lifted her head she avoided the other woman’s gaze, carefully wiping her face. “Sorry,” she murmured.

“Don’t.” Asami glanced up, surprised by the firmness of Korra’s voice. “There’s no need to apologise,” Korra amended, her tone softer.

Asami only nodded, an embarrassed laugh breaking free of her lips as she tried to compose herself. “That could have gone better,” she said.

“And it could’ve gone worse,” Korra said. “I find myself remarkably lacking a knife sticking out of me, for one thing.”

Asami laughed again. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Just...” Asami trailed off before shaking her head. “Never mind.”

Thankfully, Korra didn’t press. “Think you’re ready to go downstairs?”

When Asami gave her an incredulous look, Korra grinned. “It’s our party, remember? We can’t leave our guests in suspense after that grand announcement. I’m sure they’re all dying to ply you with mildly offensive questions and give me the dirtiest looks they can possibly manage.”

It was a fairly accurate prediction. As they made their way into the ballroom, arm in arm, the looks that Korra received ranged from distasteful to boiling with hate. Mako found them almost immediately, and made a point to hover at Korra’s back, glaring around like a thundercloud. Not for the first time, Asami felt a rush of gratitude for his constant presence behind her.

Very few people spoke to Korra, and when they did, it was perfunctory, like they’d rather lick the bottom of their shoe than acknowledge her presence. When they finally stopped lining up for a chance to speak with Asami and glare at Korra, the relief of both women was palpable.

“So,” Korra said. “Care to dance?”

Asami arched an eyebrow at her. “You really want to prolong this torture?”

Korra’s grin was mischievous, and despite herself Asami felt her lips pull into a smile. “We wouldn’t want to deprive these good people the pleasure of my company.” With that she pulled Asami onto the dance floor, leaving Mako to stare, bewildered, after them.

The dance was a traditional northern step and, of course, Korra had no idea what she was doing – but she took her clumsiness and ran with it, and Asami’s stomach ached from laughing by the time the song ended. Korra was an absolute idiot, but an idiot who apparently knew how to cheer Asami up in almost any situation; Asami’s heart fluttered wildly in her chest with that thought, and then the music started up again and Korra started to dance more seriously.

“You have a beautiful laugh, you know that?”

Asami’s eyes snapped up to meet Korra’s, suspecting a joke, and her own face burned beneath the southerner’s serious gaze. She fumbled for a response, but before she could find one Korra was spinning her; the next she knew, her back was against Korra’s torso, those strong arms looping around her waist.

“This isn’t the step,” Asami murmured half-heartedly, painfully aware of the heat in her face as their movements deviated rather obviously from the dancers around them.

“I know,” Korra murmured, her voice close against Asami’s ear.

Asami swallowed thickly, even as her hands moved to settle over Korra’s arms. In her mind, a tiny voice of reason reminded her that they were supposed to be lying; that Korra was only putting on a show for their guests. An overwhelming urge to flee the room quite nearly overcame her, but she forced it back – how would _that_ look?

Instead, she forced herself to relax into Korra’s hold as the southerner gently guided her movements in time to the music.

“There you go,” Korra said, her voice low and carrying the hint of that characteristic smirk.

Asami started to retort, but her words caught in her throat as she felt the gossamer-light touch of Korra’s lips against the side of her neck. That voice quietly reminding her of their necessary deception was abruptly drowned out by the sound of her own pulse pounding in her ears; her fingers pressed against Korra’s arms in a tighter grip and she wasn’t sure if she was breathing, but Korra’s lips hadn’t pulled away yet and _spirits_ she didn’t want them to –

Then they were gone, and Asami could breathe again. Barely.

“You okay, Princess?”

Asami turned her head to meet those damnably blue eyes. While the usual smug confidence was there, it almost seemed to be a mask, hastily pulled up to cover something else, something like... fear?

Without stopping to think, Asami leaned in to brush a soft kiss over the height of Korra’s cheek. “Perfect,” she said, and she felt a mixed rush of pride and delight as Korra’s eyes widened and her skin burned bright red.

They didn’t prolong their presence at the party; the longer they lingered, the more Asami worried that some overzealous idiot would try to stick a knife in Korra’s back. Mako seemed to mirror her concerns and he stayed with them as they left to return to their rooms.

They were speaking in hushed voices as they walked the deathly still corridors when a familiar voice startled them from their conversation.

“I have to say, Asami, I did _not_ see that coming!”

The sound of Mako drawing his sword rang deafeningly through the corridor as Varrick stepped into view, idly polishing his nails on his powder blue waistcoat. “Put that thing away before you hurt yourself, kid.”

“I think I’ll keep it out, if it’s all the same to you,” Mako said flatly.

Varrick shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“What do you want, Varrick?” Asami’s voice was firm, her dislike of the man giving her courage, but she subconsciously moved between Varrick and Korra, betraying her alarm.

“Will you kids _relax_? If I was going to try to kill your southern princess I wouldn’t do it by standing here _talking_ at you.”

“Then answer the question.” Mako’s hold on his weapon was unwavering and Asami drew some strength from his steadiness.

“I just wanted to offer my congratulations. It’s not every day a princess gets engaged – and certainly not with _that_ much flair. I couldn’t have put on a better show myself! I underestimated you, Asami. Never thought you’d pull a stunt like this.” He turned his attention to Korra then, his expression serious. “Be on your guard, kid. You have good intentions, but if you think _war_ is messy, you’ve got a nasty shock heading your way.” With that he turned and left, the sound of his cheerful whistling following in his wake.

Asami and Korra exchanged a glance as Mako sheathed his sword.

“So he’s pretty suspicious,” Korra said.

“He’s up to something,” Mako said.

Asami snorted. “Varrick’s always up to something. Come on.” She turned and continued down the hall, looking considerably less anxious than she felt.


	8. Chapter 8

They arranged to travel south as soon as possible. As terrified as she was by the idea of going with Korra to her home country, Asami was all too aware of how little time they had; Tonraq still thought Korra was on Air Temple Island, and if she stayed away for too long – or if he decided to go and check on her – everything was likely to blow up in their faces.

Still, being aware of the necessity didn’t make her fear any easier to deal with, and the day before they were scheduled to leave she found herself in the training grounds, sparring with Bolin in an attempt to expend some of that pent-up energy. He was a good sparring partner, but if Asami was being totally honest, not much of a challenge; he relied heavily on his size and weight, and Asami had learned very early on how to turn that to her advantage.

“So, you gonna tell me what’s eating at you?” Bolin asked with a grunt as Asami helped him up from a particularly rough flooring. “Or are you content to keep kicking my ass for a while?”

Asami smiled tightly as she stepped back and readied herself again. “We’re headed south tomorrow.”

“Scared?” Bolin took a swing at her and she smoothly evaded the blow, dancing out of his reach but not retaliating just yet.

“Aren’t you?”

“Well yeah, but I figure if Korra’s brave enough to come here alone, it shouldn’t be a thing for us to go there with each other.”

Asami hummed her agreement as she ducked beneath another blow and swung her leg around with the intent of tripping Bolin. He jumped the attack, but Asami was moving again in an instant, her boot connecting with his stomach before he’d regained his footing and sending him crashing onto his back again.

“Damn Bolin, what’d you do to piss our Princess off?”

Asami half-turned to see Korra approaching. “Where’s Mako?” she asked immediately. Every day since the engagement party, Mako had tailed Korra like a shadow at Asami’s request – seeing the southerner alone made her stomach clench with worry.

Korra gave a vague wave of her hand. “I shook him off.”

Asami gave her a hard look.

“What? I can handle myself, and he was starting to piss me off.”

“Did he say something?”

“No, I’m just not used to having someone hover at my shoulder everywhere I go.”

Asami turned from Korra as she realised Bolin still hadn’t picked himself up. “You okay, Bo?”

Bolin puffed out a breath and flashed a thumbs-up. “Peachy,” he wheezed.

“I have to say, I’m surprised,” Korra said as Asami moved to guiltily help Bolin up. “I didn’t really peg you as the fighting type.”

“Not many people do,” Asami shrugged.

“Yeah, but Asami’s a total badass,” Bolin said, rubbing gingerly at his stomach. “Even Mako can’t best her in a fight.”

Korra arched an eyebrow. “So why do you need him following you around everywhere?”

“I probably don’t,” Asami admitted, “but my father insists.”

“I should’ve guessed.” Korra folded her arms and then grinned. “So how about you give Bolin a break and take me for a spin instead?”

Asami forcefully suppressed the image that popped immediately into her head at Korra’s choice of words. “I don’t know,” she said, her answering grin playful. “You think you can take a stubborn northerner?”

“Please,” Korra scoffed, moving to take Bolin’s place as he took a seat on one of the surrounding benches. “Let’s go, Princess. I’ll try not to wipe the floor with you... _too_ much.”

Asami’s eyes narrowed, but she failed to suppress her grin.

They circled one another warily, sharp eyes watching for any sign of an attack. Asami’s heart hammered in her chest and she suspected it had little to do with the imminent tussle. 

Korra struck first; she leaped in and swung her leg high, aiming a kick for Asami’s head, which Asami easily evaded. Korra was out of reach again before Asami could take advantage, but Asami moved swiftly, aiming two quick jabs at Korra’s face; Korra lifted her arms to block the blows and Asami’s right leg lifted to kick against Korra’s exposed middle. Caught off-guard, Korra stumbled, and Asami fell into the next motion without hesitation, her left leg swinging up to catch the side of Korra’s head.

Korra went down, but she was rolling and back on her feet in an instant, a gleam in her eye and a broad grin on her face. “Not bad, Princess,” she said, rolling her shoulders. “Looks like I won’t have to go easy on you after all.”

“Oh, is that what that was?” Asami asked primly.

Korra laughed and Asami struck, but too slow; Korra wove fluidly out of her path and Asami reacted, swinging her leg at Korra’s head, but this time Korra was ready for her. She felt Korra’s boot connect squarely with her stomach and she went down with a grunt, leaping up just in time to ward off another blow and regain herself.

Asami lost track of time as they fought, each taking as many hits as they landed, neither able to catch the other off-guard for long enough to secure a victory. They were too evenly matched – despite Korra’s toned arms glistening with sweat proving an effective distraction to Asami. It was this that finally tipped the scale; she was so busy staring at the play of muscle over Korra’s shoulders that she didn’t notice the leg swinging at her side, and this time when she went down Korra followed, dropping on top of her and pinning her arms back above her head.

Bolin’s cheering was drowned out as Korra hovered over her. Though they were both grinning, when their eyes met something seemed to pass between them and Asami could have sworn she felt the tiniest shift of Korra’s hips against hers; but then Korra was gone, getting to her feet and offering Asami her hand.

“Impressive,” Korra said as she hauled Asami to her feet. “Remind me not to catch you in a dark alleyway.”

Asami was profoundly grateful for the exercise-induced flush on her face as she felt her ears burning for an entirely different reason.

“ _There_ you are!”

They turned to see Mako approaching. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” Asami felt a strange disconnect as she realised he was talking to Korra and not her. It was almost a pleasant experience to not be scolded by him for a change.

“Took you long enough,” Korra grinned. “You’re a pretty good bodyguard, Mako, but a tracker you are not.”

Mako glared at her, but Asami couldn’t help but notice that a lot of the venom had disappeared from his eyes. “We need to start preparing to leave.”

Asami felt a sharp pang of guilt at his words. “Mako...”

He turned to look at her.

“You’re not coming.”

“ _What_?”

“I need somebody here to keep an eye on my father and Varrick,” Asami explained gently. “Especially Varrick. There’s no one else I trust to do that.”

“What about me?” Bolin asked a little indignantly.

Asami turned a rueful smile onto him. “Sorry Bolin, but you’re not exactly subtle. If I left you behind, I’d worry more about you being caught eavesdropping than about what my father or Varrick might be up to.”

Bolin regretfully agreed.

“But... who’s going to look out for you?” The hurt and worry in Mako’s voice pained Asami but she steeled herself against it.

“I can take care of myself, Mako. You know that.”

“Yeah, but – ”

“She’ll have me.” They both turned to look at Korra, who shrugged. “I know you still don’t trust me, pretty boy, but if there’s one thing I can guarantee it’s that I won’t let anything happen to Asami.”

Korra held Mako’s stare, pointedly ignoring Asami’s own. Finally, Mako gave in. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll stay. But Bolin’s definitely going with you.”

“Obviously,” Asami said.

They left the training ground in silence, the brothers walking ahead of the girls, and Korra gingerly reached out to link her fingers with Asami’s as they walked.

 

Their departure was kept as quiet as possible. It was still dark when Asami, Korra and Bolin made their way to the airship, Mako following sulkily behind them.

A couple of midshipmen offered to take their bags aboard and once they’d handed them over, Asami turned to Mako.

“Be safe,” he said, his bearing as stiff as ever though the turmoil in his eyes was clear as day.

“I will be,” Asami said, fighting back tears as she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. She’d never been without him before, and now she was going to possibly the most dangerous place on the planet – for her, at least – and she was deliberately leaving him behind. Part of her wanted to change her mind, but she knew she couldn’t. She simply didn’t trust her father or Varrick to behave while she was gone.

Mako hesitated for a fraction of a second before his arms wound around her, his tight hold betraying his fear for her safety.

Finally, Bolin cleared his throat and they parted regretfully.

“Don’t worry bro,” Bolin said, giving Mako a playful punch. “We’ll keep her out of trouble.”

“And who’s going to keep _you_ out of trouble?” Mako asked.

“I’m offended you even need to ask that,” Bolin pouted. Mako grinned tightly and ruffled his brother’s hair.

“We’ll keep in touch,” Asami promised.

Mako nodded and then turned to Korra. He said nothing, but offered his hand to her. Grinning, she took it and they shook.

“I’m holding you to that promise,” Mako said.

“I expected as much.”

“Alright, we should go,” Asami said ruefully. It was with a heavy heart that she turned and made her way into the airship, Bolin and Korra at her back.

Not having Mako around was something that Asami had never expected she might have to get used to and it didn’t come easily. That first day was the hardest; she kept largely to herself, though she couldn’t help but notice Korra always hovering nearby, pretending to be occupied with other things but clearly offering herself if she was needed. Asami took some comfort from Korra’s constant presence, but it wasn’t quite the same.

She was in the engine room when Korra finally approached her. Her hair was tied back and she wore only a loose-fitting white tank and a pair of overalls, the top half tied about her waist. Her grease-smeared skin was shining with sweat from the heat of the room; she was wrestling grimly with one of the enormous engines, her jaw set as the heavy metal only begrudgingly cooperated with her wrench. The job she’d taken on wasn’t a particularly complex one, but it required a lot of effort, and expending the energy helped to calm her.

“That’s a good look on you, Princess.”

Asami spared a glance over her shoulder. Korra leaned her hip against a nearby railing, her arms folded as she regarded Asami with that familiar intensity; Asami turned back to her work, pretending to be busy and trying to ignore the way Korra’s gaze seemed to burn into her skin.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Does it look like I want to talk about it?” Asami redoubled her efforts, the back of her neck prickling.

“No, but that kind of makes me think that you should.”

“And what brings you to that conclusion?”

There was a moment of silence and Asami started when she felt Korra’s hand on her shoulder. She hadn’t even noticed the southerner approaching. “You’ve been moping around all day, and now you’re in here at one in the morning attacking that engine like it’s a personal insult.”

“Ah, but the thing you don’t know about me is that this is my process.” Asami tried for a joking tone but didn’t quite manage it. “Just ask Bolin.”

“I did, and he said that he usually comes to talk to you when you’re like this.”

Asami paused, her hands falling still. She glanced over her shoulder again, taken aback by how close Korra was but trying not to show it; she met those stunning eyes steadily, her own gaze searching, curious. “You did?”

Korra’s lips tugged into a smirk, but her eyes bore a slightly different expression – it was that foreign language all over again, but Asami had been studying, and this time it seemed almost legible. Before she could pin it down, however, Korra spoke. “I was worried. I know you’re close with Mako. Bolin said you’ve hardly been apart since you were little.”

Asami caught herself chewing at the inside of her bottom lip and quickly stopped. “We haven’t.” She was very aware that Korra’s hand hadn’t yet dropped from her shoulder and the contact brought them much closer than they probably needed to be.

Korra didn’t say anything and Asami was speaking again almost before she realised she’d opened her mouth. “Did you know that they’re orphans?”

Korra shook her head silently.

Asami sighed, turning slightly toward Korra. “Their parents were killed by bandits when they were very, very young,” she said, rubbing a hand wearily over her face. “One of the officers who investigated took pity on them; he had a cousin in the palace guard, and he arranged for them to live in the barracks. But they had to earn their keep. They were trained by the guards – we met when I went down to train one day and found them there packing up the equipment.”

Though the memory was a fond one, it was difficult to talk about with the knowledge that Mako was growing farther and farther away with each passing minute. Still, she pressed on. “We started spending a lot of time together. They were the only children my age I’d seen around the palace, with the exception of the servants’ children, and my father wouldn’t let me associate with them.” Her nose wrinkled distastefully. “He wasn’t terribly impressed with my choice of company in Mako and Bolin either, to begin with. But then an assassin broke into the palace one night.

“I was out late playing with the boys. Mako saw the assassin first and without a second thought he threw himself in front of me. Thankfully the arrow missed any vital organs, but he and Bolin were all over the assassin in an instant. They overcame him. Those two barely trained _children_ took on a grown man, a trained killer, and _won_. For me.”

“So Mako’s obviously always had a penchant for doing stupid heroic shit, huh?”

Asami couldn’t help but laugh, though it was subdued. “Apparently so. Either way, after my father heard of what they’d done, he changed his tune about them entirely. Even let them move into the palace proper. We’ve all been together ever since.” A thought occurred to her then. “How’s Bolin doing?” she asked rather guiltily. She hadn’t even considered how much Bolin must be missing his brother.

“He seems alright, but I’ve never seen him upset. He could just be putting up a facade for all I know.” Korra’s eyebrows pulled into a slight frown as she spoke and Asami was touched by her concern for the younger brother. “Is that likely?”

“Possibly,” Asami said. “He does tend to deflect with humour.”

“He _did_ seem rather more humorous than usual,” Korra said.

Asami sighed, eyes closing as she reached up to rub at a temple.

“Hey.” She felt Korra’s fingers curl gently around her wrist and lower her hand, and when she opened her eyes, Korra was standing directly in front of her. “You’ll be fine – you both will. We’ll be with the grumpy bastard again in no time.”

That crooked grin was encouraging, and Asami’s answering smile was grateful. “Thank you.”

Korra shrugged, though her hands had dropped to grasp Asami’s between their bodies and she gave them a small squeeze. “If you’re all done here, can I walk you to your room? It’s late.”

Asami flushed a little and nodded. “Just give me a minute to pack up.” She rather regretfully dropped Korra’s hands as she turned to wrap up the job and pack her tools away.

They left the engine room in companionable silence. The airship was largely deserted at this time of night – most of the crew on night watch would be on the observation deck, with only one or two patrolling the halls. Asami rather enjoyed the silence. The airship during the day was a bustling mess of noise and activity, but at this hour she could just soak in the muffled rumble of the engines and the hollow sound of their feet falling rhythmically on the metal floor.

She was taken by surprise when Korra suddenly shifted closer to her, an arm wrapping around her middle. 

“Don’t look now, but I think we’re being followed.”

That pleasant surprise quite abruptly fell away. “Are you sure?” she asked quietly. “It could just be a patrol.”

“No. They’re trying too hard to be stealthy.” Korra’s arm tightened around Asami’s waist, drawing her closer, and she leaned in to brush her lips over the curve of Asami’s jaw. “I have an idea,” Korra murmured, her tone low and obviously intended to sound suggestive to whoever was following. “Come on.” Despite the situation Asami’s heart fluttered erratically from the contact and she almost hated herself for it.

Korra pulled her into a narrow corridor and before she knew what was happening, Asami found herself pinned between Korra’s body and the cold steel wall. “What –”

“Shh,” Korra breathed, her hands falling to Asami’s hips. “We’re gonna catch them off-guard. Maybe if they think we’re... well, it could give us an advantage.” Even in the dim light Asami could see Korra’s cheeks burning. This was _ridiculous_. They could be under attack any minute and Asami couldn’t stop thinking about –

Before she could finish that thought Korra’s lips were on her jaw again, gently urging her head to turn toward the main corridor. “Try to watch without looking like you are,” Korra whispered, and Asami barely managed to nod. Her heart seemed to have lodged itself in her throat; she didn’t have to pretend to let her eyes flutter closed, though she did have to fight to keep them open just enough that she could see the hall to her left.

It wasn’t easy. Korra was making it _incredibly_ hard to concentrate. Her lips trailed aimlessly over Asami’s jaw and down the column of her throat, hands roaming lazily along her sides – even this casual, distracted attention was making it difficult for Asami to breathe.

Then she saw a head poke around the corner and duck back again. Her hands gripped Korra’s shoulders and she murmured her name, trying to sound breathless while making her warning apparent. Korra seemed to understand and her lips shifted to turn Asami’s head back the other way. Asami felt a little thrill of panic – she couldn’t see now! – before she noticed the very slight turn of Korra’s head toward the main hall.

When Korra abruptly pulled away, Asami was ready. Her head whipped around to find their stalker almost upon them. They went for Korra first, a long blade in hand, and Korra ducked beneath their first blow to drive herself against their middle. For a fleeting second it appeared as if Korra had the advantage; but then the assailant expertly turned, using Korra’s momentum against her, and flung her out of the corridor. Without a moments’ hesitation, they turned on Asami.

Whoever the attacker was, they were small and nimble and knew how to use that to their advantage. Asami warded off the first few attacks, but wasn’t prepared when her attacker made as if to throw a punch and then dropped instead to sweep her legs out from under her. She went down, her head cracking painfully against the floor, and then all she knew was the worst pain she’d ever experienced blossoming from her shoulder. She was distantly aware of someone screaming, and a few moments later realised the voice was her own. Lights were dancing in front of her eyes and the world was spinning. Something heavy fell against her chest – then darkness enveloped her and she knew no more.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and encouragement! I'm still stoked by every single one and still delighted that you're all enjoying the story so much!  
> On that note, though, I'm afraid I'll have to update a little less frequently from now on - I've just started training for a new job and I'll be working 6 day weeks for a while until I officially finish my old job, so there'll be a lot less time for writing. I'll try to keep the updates as regular as I can, though! In the meantime, have a whoooole lot of fluff to tide you over.

The first thing she became aware of was the buzzing.

She hardly noticed it at first, but the longer it went on, the louder and more irksome it became until it bordered right on infuriating. She tried to tell it to stop, but she couldn’t move her tongue and her mouth felt so dry that the slightest movement almost made her gag. She was dimly aware of a strange weight against her stomach, and as her thoughts gathered she found that her arms were unbelievably cold.

Finally, she gained consciousness enough to try and open her eyes.

There was light, if only a little, and Asami was able to vaguely make out a pair of blurred silhouettes before her vision cleared. It took several slow, groggy moments before she recognised Tenzin and Pema. She was in a bed, obviously on Air Temple Island – a nearby window was open, letting a cool breeze inside, and her arms were at her sides on top of the blanket.

The weight on her stomach was Korra. She appeared to be asleep, her arms folded against Asami’s middle and her cheek resting against them, her back rising and falling with slow, steady breaths.

Tenzin and Pema were standing off to one side, speaking in hushed tones – Asami registered their voices as the ‘buzzing’ that had woken her. They hadn’t noticed that she was awake yet, and she took advantage of the moment to watch Korra sleep. There was a vulnerability in that peaceful expression that Asami had never seen in the southerner before – but as much as she wanted to savour it, she found herself aching to have those eyes on her again. 

She tried to move her right arm but was greeted with a sharp pain shooting from her shoulder to her fingertips; she bit back a whimper as she waited for the pain to subside, belatedly noticing the bandages wrapping her shoulder. She tried to remember what had happened, but her memories were fuzzy and distant, like the last lingering threads of a dream – the harder she tried to grasp onto them, the faster they unravelled, until she was left with nothing.

Giving up, Asami tried again, this time with her left hand. It was difficult to move at first, the weight of sleep seeping deep into her bones, but she eventually managed to lift her fingers to Korra’s hair, carefully threading them through the soft locks.

Korra’s eyes fluttered open and Asami’s stomach twisted into an impossible knot at the look on the southerner’s face. “Asami,” she breathed as she sat up, the overwhelming relief in her voice spilling into her expression as she grasped Asami’s left hand in both of hers. “Thank the spirits.”

Korra’s words drew Tenzin and Pema’s attention and suddenly Asami was surrounded by bodies. Try though she might, she couldn’t quite bring herself to look away from Korra, even when Pema spoke to her.

“How are you feeling, dear?”

Asami tried to swallow and was reminded of her atrociously dry mouth. She struggled for a moment before she felt the rim of a cup pressed carefully against her lips; Korra’s face was serious and gentle as she held the cup for her and for a moment Asami almost forgot how to drink. When she finally managed, the cool water flowing down her throat seemed to shock some sense back into her and she took a moment to consider Pema’s question.

“Sore,” she responded eventually. Korra’s smile was grim.

“That’s to be expected,” Pema said, laying a cool hand against Asami’s forehead.

“How long...” Her voice felt raw and she tried to clear her throat. “How long have I been out?”

“Five days.” There was a slight tremble to Korra’s voice as she spoke and she squeezed Asami’s hand softly. “You had us worried for a while there, Princess.”

“What... happened?”

“There was an assassin on the ship.” Korra’s eyes went flat as she spoke. “Bastard managed to get you –” she nodded toward Asami’s bandaged shoulder, “– but I knocked him out while he was distracted. He’s in custody.”

Asami closed her eyes as the memory floated indistinctly before her.

“You hit your head when you went down.” She opened her eyes again in time to see Korra swallow thickly. “Like, hard. We were worried that... that there was a possibility you might not wake up.”

Korra’s voice was strained as she said this last and Asami’s heart ached at the open fear in the other woman’s features. “Well I did,” she said.

Korra smiled softly, but it didn’t quite chase away that lingering fear. “Yeah,” she said. “You did.”

Despite herself, Asami felt her eyes growing heavy again and she let them fall closed. “Where’s Bolin?” she asked, her voice dropping to a weary murmur.

“He insisted on guarding the prisoner,” Tenzin said. “He’s taken the attack very personally.”

“I’ve never seen him so mad,” Korra added. “He seemed right on the verge of killing the kid himself.”

“Kid?” Asami’s eyes snapped open.

“Your would-be assassin is barely more than a boy,” Tenzin clarified. “We aren’t sure if he really wanted you dead or if he’s just misguided.”

“Enough of this,” Pema said then, pulling the blankets further up over Asami’s chest. “You need to rest.”

Asami looked immediately to Korra. 

“I’ll be here,” Korra promised. “Get some sleep, Princess.”

She did.

 

The sound of muffled voices woke her again, but this time it was easier to free herself from the clingy hold of sleep.

“It’s obvious to anybody who cares to observe.” The voice was Tenzin’s, but Asami was struggling to register his words. She forced herself fully awake and immediately saw that she was alone in the room – but night had fallen and a light glowed steadily in the hallway outside, casting two silhouettes against the door, which had been left open a crack.

“It’s supposed to be.” The second voice was Korra’s. “We agreed on it.”

“You’re deluding yourself if you think it’s an act,” Tenzin said softly.

There was a moment’s silence. “It’s... complicated,” Korra said.

“And how is that?”

“It just _is_.” Korra’s voice was frustrated. “She barely _knows_ me. How could she possibly –”

“These things are never logical, Korra,” Tenzin said. “But both Pema and I saw how she looked at you when she woke up. Not only did she have no reason to pretend, she was in no state to.”

Asami’s pulse was racing deafeningly in her ears, making it difficult to listen. Was she hearing correctly?

“Why do you care so much, anyway?” Korra asked rather sullenly.

“I’m sure you appreciate how delicate this situation is,” Tenzin said. “I don’t think anybody really expected real feelings to evolve from this. I just want you to be careful.”

“Why?”

“When feelings are as strong as yours appear to be, things can go wrong very easily. The slightest misunderstanding can be devastating. This marriage needs to work out – not for you or for Asami, but for the good of your people.”

“I’m well aware of that.” Korra’s tone grew icy. “Don’t you think that this helps the situation more than it damages it? Asami and I agreed to pretend because we thought it would be more convincing. What could be more convincing than the truth?”

“Not everybody will believe the truth, even when it’s right in front of them. I’m not condemning what’s happening, Korra – I just want you to tread carefully.”

“Alright then – point taken. Can I go back in now?”

Korra didn’t wait for a reply before she stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She froze when she saw Asami was awake.

“Hey,” Asami said quietly.

“Hey. Have you been awake long?”

Asami only smiled knowingly. Korra’s face burned and she rubbed a hand against the back of her neck. “Well _that’s_ embarrassing.” Her awkwardness was entirely out of proportion with her usual cockiness, but somehow both suited her perfectly and Asami had no idea how that could even work.

“Asami... look, I... I just want you to know that I don’t expect anything from you –”

“Korra.”

“– I mean we barely know each other and –”

“ _Korra_."

“– the whole situation is kind of really ridiculous and I just –”

“ _Korra!_ ” Asami laughed this time and that seemed enough to finally shut Korra up. “Come here.”

Wearing a sheepish expression that threatened to melt Asami clear out of existence, Korra slowly approached and sat in the chair positioned beside her bed.

Asami gave Korra a pointed smile and shook her head, tapping the fingers of her right hand against the mattress and ignoring the pain that even that slight movement triggered. Korra awkwardly moved to perch on the edge of the bed instead.

“What happened to having a lot of faith in the ridiculous?” Asami asked pointedly.

Korra blinked at that and then laughed, rubbing the back of her neck again. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

“Mhm.” Before she really knew what she was doing, Asami found herself reaching up with her left hand, gently grasping Korra’s shirt and pulling her down. Though Korra seemed willing enough to follow, she hesitated just shy of Asami’s lips, and Asami thoughtlessly tilted her head up to close the distance between them.

Korra’s lips were soft and warm and responsive; Asami’s heart hammered in her chest and she was convinced it was audible to everyone on the island, but for once she didn’t care. She could feel Korra’s feather-light breath over her cheek as their noses brushed alongside one another, and when she lifted her hand to gently grasp the side of Korra’s neck, the touch was greeted by the other woman’s pulse beneath her fingers, pounding just as hard as her own. When Korra’s lips briefly caught Asami’s lower one between them Asami’s breath hitched audibly and she felt Korra’s answering smile.

How long they remained entangled Asami couldn’t have said, but both were breathless when they finally broke apart. Korra lingered with her forehead against Asami’s, her thumb stroking slowly over the line of Asami’s jaw. “Spirits,” she murmured. “You have _no idea_ how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

Asami couldn’t help a small laugh. “I think I might.”

Korra shook her head. “No, you really don’t. Asami...” She pulled back a little more and Asami’s heart jolted when their eyes met. “There’s... something you should probably know.”

“What is it?” Despite her elation, Korra’s words sparked panic in Asami’s chest. She did her best not to let it show.

Korra hesitated for a long moment, lips pressed together anxiously. “You remember Suyin?”

“From the meeting?” Asami’s confusion carried into her voice. What did Suyin have to do with anything?

“Yeah. She’s always been kind of like a second mother to me. I grew up with her kids – they’re my best friends. Like how Mako and Bolin are to you.”

Asami said nothing, taking Korra’s hand and softly stroking her thumb over the southerner’s knuckles.

“She has a lot of kids. But she used to have two more. Twins – Wing and Wei. I was always closest with them.”

Asami’s stomach hollowed out. “The war?”

Korra nodded. “It wasn’t even a real battle. They were out hunting and stumbled upon a northern raiding party. The boy they’d taken with them managed to escape – if not for him, we never would have known.

“They... they were tortured. For information, you know? And when they wouldn’t break, they were killed and dumped like... like old garbage.”

Korra’s voice was trembling and she’d broken away from Asami’s gaze. Asami only continued to stroke Korra’s hand, waiting for her to continue.

“When we found out, I was... livid. I was too angry to even grieve. I focussed so much on who was responsible and how to get revenge...” Finally she looked up again, her expression pained. “I was thirteen years old and I was dead set on killing you.”

Asami stared. “Me?”

“I don’t know why,” Korra said quickly, her fingers tightening around Asami’s. “I somehow got it into my head that you were responsible. Or maybe you were the best way to get at Hiroshi, I don’t really remember. Either way, I managed to sneak north. I got into your city – I made it into the palace.

“It was late – a lot of people were sleeping, and I was small enough to hide in spaces most wouldn’t really consider checking. It wasn’t easy, but I made it as far as your room.”

Asami’s ears were ringing, but still she said nothing, eager to hear what Korra had to say.

“It was like being punched in the chest, seeing you for the first time.” Korra’s burning eyes searched Asami’s face as if reliving the memory. “It wasn’t at all what I’d expected. _You_ weren’t. You were so... _perfect_. Just lying there, fast asleep, peaceful and oblivious...” Korra shook her head, a rather self-mocking grin just briefly touching her lips. “Needless to say, I couldn’t do it. I turned around and went home, then and there. But I never could stop thinking about you and I’ve been fighting to make my father stop the war ever since. I insisted on coming with him to Air Temple Island even though I had no way of knowing that you’d be there. And then you showed up, and you were so much _more_ than I could ever have expected, and it was like being a lovestruck thirteen-year-old all over again.”

Asami remembered the intensity with which Korra had watched her that first night on Air Temple Island and her ears burned with the memory. “Are you saying you’ve been in love with me since you were thirteen?” She couldn’t help but grin as she said it. It all seemed so ridiculous, and yet...

Korra laughed ruefully and then gave a helpless shrug. “I think so, yeah.” She bit her lip, avoiding Asami’s gaze now. “I’m sorry – I know it’s pretty weird. I just... I figured you had a right to know.”

Asami released Korra’s hand, instead reaching up to gently turn the southerner’s head back toward her. “I’m glad you told me,” she said seriously, her skin prickling as those stunning eyes held her own. “And I’m also glad you didn’t kill me. Thanks for that.” She couldn’t fight her grin and Korra snorted, rolling her eyes.

“You’re welcome, Princess.”

Asami laughed, and then she was pulling Korra down for another kiss and Korra practically melted against her.

Korra broke away sooner this time, and laughed when Asami gave a small, reproachful whine. “You need to rest,” she murmured, lingering close enough that her lips brushed Asami’s with each word.

“I’ve been unconscious for five days,” Asami pointed out, unable to resist the temptation; she stole another kiss, slower this time, and delighted in the unsteady sigh that the contact drew from the southerner.

Korra was smiling when she pulled back again. “Six, if you count your last sleep. But you’re still weak and Pema doesn’t want you overexerting yourself.”

Asami slumped back with a pout. “Being stabbed is such an inconvenience.”

Korra laughed again. Asami decided that she very much enjoyed the sound. “Terribly sorry, your highness,” Korra said dryly. “Next time we’ll try for a minimally inconvenient stabbing.”

“Good. This stabbing is of an unacceptable standard.” Asami grinned.

Korra rolled her eyes, unable to keep her own grin from spreading. “It probably goes without saying,” she said then, gently cupping Asami’s jaw in her hand, “but I’m really glad you’re okay, Princess.”

Asami closed her eyes, turning her head to press a kiss against the palm of Korra’s hand. “Stay with me?” she murmured, cracking an eye open to peer up at the southerner.

She almost felt guilty at the look of utter helplessness on Korra’s face. “Of course,” she said, gently tucking a stray lock of hair behind Asami’s ear. 

Asami shifted to make room and Korra carefully climbed over to slide beneath the blankets on Asami’s left. Asami tucked herself against Korra’s side, nestling her cheek against the southerner’s shoulder. She barely heard Korra’s murmured goodnight before she was drifting into a deep sleep.

 

It was two more days before Asami was let out of bed – two days where she couldn’t even busy herself with her sketchbook because of the pain in her arm. Two days of sitting in bed doing absolutely nothing, and it was driving her spare. When she was finally given permission to get up, Pema had to strictly forbid dancing for joy.

“I’m not too weak to be _happy_ ,” Asami pointed out as she rose on trembling legs, holding on to Korra for support.

“No, but your legs haven’t been used for a good week,” Pema said with a smile. “It probably won’t take long for them to adjust again, but until then... just be careful.”

Though Asami rolled her eyes, she found it difficult to be put out with Pema. The woman’s patience and kindness knew no bounds, and if it weren’t for her, Asami may not even be here to complain.

“What’s first on the list then, Princess?” Korra asked, her hold steady as Asami experimentally bent her knees a couple of times.

“Bathing,” Asami said immediately, carefully straightening her legs. “Definitely bathing.” She cast Korra a look, daring her to comment. Korra, most wisely, did not.

“Let’s get you to the bathroom, then. Think you can manage?”

Asami scoffed and took a step to prove that she wasn’t, in fact, crippled – and promptly stumbled, her weakened legs buckling beneath her. Thankfully, Korra was quick to catch her before she crumpled to the floor.

“I might need a little help,” Asami said sheepishly.

Korra laughed as she helped Asami back up. “Imagine that. Come on, then.”

It was slow going, but Asami felt her strength slowly returning with each step. By the time they reached the bathroom – which was only a short way down the hall from her room – she only barely needed to hang on to Korra. That’s not to say she didn’t continue to lean into the southerner, anyway. _Any excuse_ , she thought unapologetically as they entered the bathroom.

Asami perched carefully on the edge of the bath as Korra ran the water for her. “I can do that myself, you know,” she pointed out.

Korra only glanced at her with a carefree little smile, selecting a small bottle from a nearby shelf and pouring a cap-full into the water. The sweet smell of jasmine filled the room almost immediately and Asami very nearly fainted. _Spirits_ , she’d missed that smell. Being bedridden was definitely not something she intended on doing again anytime soon.

When the tub was full, Korra shut off the water and rose. “Think you can manage from here?”

Asami arched an eyebrow at her. “You mean you’re not joining me?” she asked rather pointedly.

Korra’s face burned so bright she could have combusted on the spot. “Ah – no,” she said, clearing her throat. “Sorry, Princess.”

“And I thought _I_ was the prude,” Asami said, very deliberately reaching to start untying her robe.

Korra whipped around and Asami suddenly understood Korra’s amusement when she’d done the exact same thing back home, particularly when she spied the same redness crawling up the back of Korra’s neck.

“I’ll... be outside,” Korra managed, making her awkward way to the door. “Call me if you need anything, okay?”

Asami bit back the obvious response. “Okay,” she agreed, and Korra left, closing the door softly behind her.

Asami took her time, and once she was bathed and dressed she felt immensely better. Her shoulder still smarted, but she could at least move her arm now and the pain had been lessening with each passing day.

She was carefully applying her makeup in the mirror when there was a knock at the door. “Yes?”

“It’s me.” Korra’s voice sounded from the other side. “Tenzin wants to see us in the meeting hall, when you’re ready.”

“I won’t be long,” Asami called. She swiftly finished her makeup and left the bathroom.

Korra was waiting for her outside. She blinked when she saw Asami emerge and Asami noticed rather smugly the redness that returned to the southerner’s neck. “Was there something?” Asami asked mildly when Korra didn’t say anything.

Korra seemed to start from a trance; she shook her head briskly and offered a sheepish grin. “No,” she said. “You just... you look good. Healthy.”

Even now, Asami frequently caught glimpses of overwhelming relief in Korra’s expression when she looked at her. It both touched her and triggered a slight pang of guilt – though getting stabbed was hardly her fault, she hated that she’d caused Korra so much worry.

“Did Tenzin say what he wanted to see us for?” Asami asked, starting down the hall and reaching out to gently grasp Korra’s arm for support. Walking was easier now, but she was still weak and didn’t trust her knees not to buckle beneath her at any second.

“Something to do with the kid who attacked us, I think.” Korra cast Asami a sidelong look. “Think you’ll be okay?”

Asami considered it. The thought of facing the person who nearly killed her sent an anxious thrill through her but it didn’t come close to overcoming her – it didn’t seem as though she was suffering any severe trauma. If she was, she was probably about to find out. “I’ll be fine,” she said. “I want to talk to him.”

A small group had gathered in the meeting hall. It felt strange to be back here with Korra at her side. After everything that had happened, it seemed an eternity since that day when they had begun their journey together – and the knowledge that they still had so far to go both thrilled and terrified Asami. She pointedly ignored Tenzin’s knowing gaze as Korra held a chair out for her at the table.

Bolin was already there, seated at Asami’s right. He was unusually quiet, and there were dark bags under his eyes. His hands were folded together on the table in front of him, his knuckles white with the force of his grip.

While Korra took up the seat to her left, Asami reached over to lay a hand on his arm. “Are you alright?”

Bolin stared at her for a minute as if struck dumb, and then threw his arms around her. “I should be asking _you_ that!” he wailed. Asami froze briefly, taken aback by the display, but then wrapped her arms around him in turn, wincing at the resulting pain. “I’m so sorry I haven’t been to see you, it seemed like such a good idea to give you space and now it just seems _stupid_ and I’m sorry!”

Asami was so struck by the sudden display that she could only laugh. “It’s okay, Bo,” she said, running a hand through his thick hair. Lowering her voice, she murmured quietly, “I know it’s hard for you when things get too serious.”

His hold tightened around her and then he quite abruptly recoiled. “Was I hurting you? I’m _so_ sorry I didn’t even think – how’s your shoulder?”

Asami smiled warmly at him as she idly readjusted her shirt. “It’s – better,” she said, swiftly changing her answer from ‘fine’. “It really was a very minor wound.”

“It was the head trauma everyone was worried about,” Bolin said. “I hear you went down pretty hard.”

Asami nodded, but didn’t get a chance to respond. The doors at the other end of the hall opened and in marched Tenzin’s brother and sister, both looking grim with a gangling teenager held firmly between them. They stopped in the middle of the room, facing the table.

Tenzin stood at Asami’s back and she started when he spoke. She’d hadn’t even noticed him approach. “This is our would-be assassin,” he said, and Asami had never heard his voice carry so much venom. “Speak your name, boy.”

“It’s Kai,” the boy said. While he glowered at all of them, Asami detected a hint of fear in those wide green eyes, and he deliberately avoided looking at her. She felt a rush of sympathy despite herself. He was so _young_.

A whimper caught Asami’s attention and she glanced to her right. Bolin’s eyebrows were drawn together and his lips were pressed into a thin line, but where Asami expected to see anger or at least dislike, there was only distress in his expression.

Her attention was drawn back to Kai as Tenzin spoke again. “Kai, you’re charged with the attempted murder of –”

“We all know why he’s here, Tenzin,” Bumi piped up. “Get to the good part.”

Tenzin’s glare was palpable in the brief silence that followed and Asami had to cover a small smile with her hand. “You stand today before your intended victims,” he continued. “Do you have anything to say in your defence?”

Asami got the distinct feeling that Tenzin’s formality stemmed from a certain enjoyment of the situation, like he was a little boy playing courtroom. She had to hurriedly banish that thought before the image of baby Tenzin in an oversized judge’s wig fixed itself too firmly in her head.

To his credit, Kai straightened. “No,” he said. There was an audible tremble in his voice, but Asami couldn’t help but admire his courage. “I was just doing the job.”

“Will you speak the name of the man who hired you?”

“I would, but I don’t know it.”

“Tell us what happened.”

Kai took in a small breath. “I’m an orphan, and I grew up on the streets. I learned to do pretty much anything it took to survive. Mostly I just stole food, or money for food – but every now and then someone would hire me to steal something for them.”

Bolin whimpered again and Asami reached out to take his hand. His hold was crushing, but she didn’t flinch or try to pull back.

“I usually managed to get by enough with that,” Kai continued, “but for a while there, my luck had been steadily running dry. When the guy approached me I hadn’t eaten in a week and I was getting desperate. He asked me what I was willing to do to eat and I told him I’d do anything.”

Kai very nearly spat those last words. Clearly, he was regretting his response.

“He didn’t tell me that my target was the princess. All he said was that someone wanted to send a message. He gave me a uniform and the details of your departure and described you to me.”

“You said you didn’t know you were supposed to be attacking Asami,” Tenzin pointed out.

“I live on the _streets_ ,” Kai said rather scathingly. “Of course I had no idea what the princess looked like. To me she was just another dignitary.” He paused. “Then again, even if I had known, I probably would’ve done it, anyway. What’s a princess to a homeless orphan?”

“Carry on, Kai,” Asami said, cutting off Tenzin’s response.

Kai shrugged. “The rest is history. I was smuggled on board, I tailed you for a while, and then struck.” His nose wrinkled. “Should’ve realised I was out of my element. Nobody expects to be jumped by a couple making out in a dark hall.”

Korra barked out a laugh, but Asami’s face flooded with heat as every other pair of eyes turned their way. Bumi and Kya didn’t bother to suppress their grins, and she could almost feel the stunned disbelief Bolin aimed at her.

Behind her, Tenzin cleared his throat. “Asami, as the wounded party –” Bumi and Kya both erupted into snickers at his choice of words. He ignored them and pressed on. “– I leave Kai’s sentence up to you.”

Asami watched Kai thoughtfully for a moment before turning to Korra. “Any ideas?” she murmured.

Korra shrugged. “Personally I’d lock him up and throw away the key, but I’m probably a little biased.”

Asami rolled her eyes before catching a glimpse of Tenzin’s stormy expression. An idea started to form in her head as she turned back to her assailant.

“Kai,” she said, and the boy stiffened noticeably. “It’s true that you face charges for a very serious crime. However given the circumstances, I feel some leniency should be in order.”

He stared at her.

“That’s not to say you’re being let off,” Asami said. “I want you to stay here on Air Temple Island.”

Tenzin immediately started to protest, but Asami held up a hand to silence him. Amazingly, it worked. “You will live here and train with Master Tenzin for the next five years,” she said, “and when that time is up it will be up to you whether you stay or leave. Believe me when I say that Tenzin will not make it easy for you,” she added.

“The life of a monk isn’t always a pleasant one,” Tenzin said, “particularly not when it’s unfamiliar. This is not a reprieve.” He seemed to quickly understand Asami’s reasoning and she was glad for it.

Kai glanced between Asami and Tenzin. “Why?” It was a vague question, but Asami understood.

“Because you’ve been dealt a difficult hand, and you’ve done what you need to in order to survive,” Asami said.

Kai was staring at her and she couldn’t quite figure out what his expression was showing.

“Take him to the children’s wing,” Tenzin said. “Get him settled in.”

Bumi and Kya turned to walk Kai from the room, but their hold on him had slackened until it was more reassuring than punishing.

As soon as they were out of the room, Korra turned to her. “Are you sure about this? He could’ve been lying to guilt you.”

Asami and Bolin exchanged a glance. “He wasn’t,” Bolin said.

“How do you know?”

“For one, he already told me his story while I was keeping an eye on him,” Bolin said with a sigh. “It was the same this time, but... different. It wasn’t rehearsed, I mean. Besides,” he added, “when you go through something like that, you start to recognise the look on other people.”

Korra’s gaze lingered on him for a moment before she nodded. “Alright.”

“Sorry, Tenzin,” Asami said. “I kind of sprung that on you.”

“It’s fine,” Tenzin said. “It was surprising, but it’s a good decision, I think. The boy needs guidance, not punishment.”

Asami smiled. Whether it was being up and about again or the feeling that she’d done something very right, she felt more at peace than she had in a long time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken so long! Getting sick is not a fun thing. But here's the next chapter and hopefully I'll be able to knock out a few more in fairly short order!

It was nearly a week before Asami convinced Korra and Tenzin that she was recovered enough to leave.

“It’s another four days’ travel to get to the south at _least_ ,” she said rather irately. “What do you think I’m going to be _doing_? I had no intentions of climbing around on the outside of the airship, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Asami knew full well that everyone was only concerned for her health. She _knew_. But that didn’t make their constant fretting any less aggravating. She didn’t particularly mind Korra hovering at her side almost constantly – and she certainly wasn’t going to complain about getting to sleep beside her every night – but Tenzin’s hovering had disrupted her time with Korra more than once. Even Bolin was developing a talent for interrupting them, but at least he realised when he had. For all his talk about Korra and Asami’s feelings for each other being obvious, Tenzin was completely oblivious to the pair’s flushed cheeks and awkward squirming whenever he burst in unannounced.

Such was the case now. Asami had leaped to her feet when the door slid open and Korra managed to do a commendable job of looking casual about being sprawled out on Asami’s bed. 

“We just want to make sure you’re fully recovered,” Tenzin said. “Four days is a long time for something to go wrong, especially when there are limited resources on your ship.”

“You mean that you and Pema aren’t there?” Asami asked. “Tenzin, _relax_. I’m fine. If I haven’t collapsed on the spot by now, I think it’s fairly safe to say that I’m not going to.”

“If Asami thinks she’s ready, it might not be a bad idea to think about leaving soon,” Korra said, sitting up to swing her legs over the edge of the bed. “I _have_ been gone a while. My dad will want to know what I’ve been up to.” Her smirk was impish, but it wasn’t difficult to see her uneasiness.

Asami instinctively laid a hand on Korra’s shoulder and Korra reached up to gently grasp it.

“Well... if you’re sure,” Tenzin relented finally.

“I’m sure,” Asami said. “We’ll make preparations to leave in the morning.”

Her tone was final and Tenzin nodded before leaving the room.

Korra turned a grin onto Asami. “That was close.”

Asami rolled her eyes. “Please. At least our hands were visible.”

“ _This_ time,” Korra said as Asami lowered herself to sit beside her. “I’ll be grateful to get home. Plenty of secret spots there, far from prying eyes.”

“Oh?” Asami said, brushing Korra’s hair back and leaning in to graze her lips over the shell of the southerner’s ear. “Do you have _plans_ , Korra?”

Korra swallowed audibly and Asami couldn’t help her smile. “Maybe,” Korra said rather unsteadily.

Rendering Korra speechless was a new-found hobby of Asami’s, and it was surprisingly easy to do. For someone who had been so cool and confident before, it really took very little for Korra to devolve into a stammering dork. Asami absolutely _adored_ it.

She let her lips trail down from Korra’s ear, basking in the way Korra’s head tilted to follow their path, in her trembling inhalation and the appreciative sigh that followed.

Korra turned her head to catch Asami’s lips with her own and Asami fell eagerly into the kiss, a hand dropping to Korra’s thigh while Korra’s arm looped around her waist, fingers grasping at the material of her shirt as she pulled the princess nearer.

Experimentally, Asami started to slide her hand slowly up Korra’s thigh, and at first Korra’s response was positive – a short gasp, the parting of lips, the brush of her tongue over Asami’s – but then she was pulling away, gently reaching down to stop Asami’s hand.

“What’s wrong?” Asami murmured, though she turned her hand palm-up to lace her fingers with Korra’s, allowing it to be moved down again.

“Nothing,” Korra said immediately, but sighed when Asami gave her a sceptical look. “It’s just... not yet, okay?”

“After eight years, I’d have thought you’d be done waiting,” Asami teased.

Korra smiled ruefully. “There’s more to it than that.”

“Such as?”

Korra’s expression became pained and Asami immediately regretted pushing. “If you’re just not ready, it’s okay,” she added hastily. “I don’t want to pressure you.”

Though the look Korra gave her was grateful, there was definite regret when she leaned in for a soft, chaste kiss. “You don’t make it easy to hold back,” she murmured, and Asami’s stomach bottomed out.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I can stop.”

“No.” Korra’s grip on her hand tightened. “I don’t want you to stop. Besides...” She pulled back enough to grin rather wryly at Asami. “You could be doing nothing at all and it would still be difficult.”

“All this sweet talking isn’t making it any easier for me, either,” Asami pointed out.

Korra’s eyes lingered on her (those _ridiculously_ blue eyes, what the _hell_ ) for a long moment before she gently released Asami’s hand and stood up. “Come on,” she said. “We should start packing.”

 

 

It felt good to be back in the air.

While Asami was starting to grow rather fond of Air Temple Island, being bedridden for a week and then tailed around like a walking bomb for another had grown very tiresome, _very_ quickly. Besides, she’d been anxious to get back into the engine room – the significant lack of engines to tinker with on the island left her with only her sketchbook, and while she could spend hours staining her hands black and leaving eraser rubbings all over the floor, not having anything to physically play with definitely grated on her.

She was aboard the airship for barely more than half an hour before she found herself in the engine room, jacket discarded and hair tied back.

Of course, being pent up for a fortnight wasn’t the only reason Asami was so restless. Their stay on Air Temple Island had served as a brief respite from their journey south, but now that they were on their way again she couldn’t help but feel anxious. Very few northerners had ever returned from the south alive, and those that did certainly didn’t get away unscathed. She knew that this situation was different – she wasn’t a soldier, she wasn’t going in looking for a fight – but she remained uneasy nevertheless.

Her brow furrowed as she worked, lips pressed into a thin line. Had Korra been this anxious when they’d travelled to the Reach? If so, she’d done a remarkable job of concealing it. To those that knew Asami’s behaviour, she was sure her nerves were almost palpable. And she felt ridiculous for it. Bolin’s remark about Korra travelling with them alone lingered perpetually in the back of her mind; the courage it must have taken for the southerner to get on board a northern airship and go with them, alone, to the Reach... Asami could barely comprehend it. She was taking a ship full of airmen and one of her closest friends with her and she was barely keeping it together.

Not having Mako around certainly wasn’t helping. She felt the familiar hot sting of tears behind her eyes as her friend’s serious face rose in her mind, but shook her head and threw herself almost angrily into her work. The last thing she wanted was to appear weak or afraid. If Korra could do it, then so could she.

However her determination was slightly premature and, naturally, not an hour later she was sitting in the infirmary while a medic carefully re-stitched the wound on her shoulder.

“You’re lucky Tenzin isn’t here, or you’d be getting a right earful,” Korra remarked mildly. Despite the lightness of her tone, she lingered close by, her tight grip on Asami’s hand betraying her worry. “You _were_ told, you know. Quite specifically.”

“I know,” Asami sighed, wincing as the needle pierced her still-sensitive skin. While Tenzin may not be here to give her an earful, Korra was certainly making her disapproval obvious.

Korra said nothing until Asami was patched up and given firm instructions to avoid straining her shoulder too much. They left the infirmary in silence and were almost at Asami’s room before Korra finally spoke again.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Asami puffed out her cheeks before releasing the air with a sigh. “There isn’t much to talk about.”

“You’re scared.”

Wordlessly, Asami nodded, avoiding Korra’s gaze.

“It’ll be alright.” Korra’s hand found hers again and gave a reassuring squeeze. “I meant what I said to Mako. I won’t let anything happen to you.” She paused. “Although, if he finds out you were stabbed on my watch, I probably won’t live long enough to see that promise through.”

Asami couldn’t help a small laugh. “I’m not dead yet.”

“Let’s keep it that way.”

A brief silence fell between them, each lost in their own thoughts.

“Korra?”

“Hm?”

“Were you scared when we were taking you north?”

“Absolutely,” Korra said without hesitation. “Honestly, I didn’t sleep very well for a while there. But I trusted you. It might’ve been foolish, all things considered, but... I did.” She shrugged.

Asami’s heart warmed with the confession and she turned when they reached the door to her quarters, drawing Korra in for a soft, slow kiss. “I trust you,” she murmured softly.

“I know,” Korra said, her voice low and breathless. “But you’re still allowed to be scared. Just...” She pulled back slightly to meet Asami’s gaze. “Be more careful about how you deal with it, okay?”

Asami grinned rather sheepishly. “I will,” she promised. “Does a nap sound like an agreeable solution to you?”

“Provided it’s in your bed and not on top of a running engine, I think I can live with that.”

 

 

While trusting Korra certainly provided some comfort, Asami’s fear didn’t dissipate. In fact it only grew with each day, until the captain announced that they were approaching Korra’s home tribe.

“Pardon my wariness, your highness,” the captain said, “but I daresay flying a northern airship right up to the settlement would be... unwise.”

Asami glanced at Korra.

“He’s definitely not wrong,” Korra said. “The north is aware of the situation, but my people aren’t. If my dad saw a northern airship approaching he’d shoot us down without a second thought.”

“Any ideas?” Asami asked.

“Land here. I’ll go ahead and bring my dad back with transport to get into town.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Asami recalled only too well Hiroshi’s reaction to seeing Korra in the Reach.

Korra shrugged. “I’ll talk him around. I won’t pretend to know your dad, but I know mine, and I have a feeling this will be a lot easier than it was with Hiroshi.”

“Let’s hope so,” Asami murmured, dimly aware of the tension in her shoulders.

Korra gave her a knowing smile. “It’ll be fine, Princess. Trust me.”

Watching Korra leave was almost as hard for Asami as battling down her rising fear. The cold certainly wasn’t helping – by the _spirits_ , how did people handle it? And Korra had traipsed off wearing only a jacket over her thin, armless shirt – Asami had been forced to bury herself beneath at least three layers of clothes just to stand outside and see Korra off.

“At least Pabu’s having fun,” Bolin remarked as he stood beside Asami, watching Pabu roll around in the snow.

Asami forced herself to tear her eyes from Korra’s retreating back to watch Pabu instead, internally chastising herself. _She’ll be back soon. Pull yourself together! You’re a_ Sato! _You do not pine like a helpless damsel in a bad love story!_

It wasn’t long before the cold drove them back inside the ship. As much as Asami wanted to throw herself into the engine room, her shoulder still smarted from having her wound re-stitched and her conversation with Korra discouraged her from repeating a bad decision. Instead she buried herself in her sketchbook, though she didn’t manage to get much done glancing out the window every five minutes.

Darkness was starting to fall by the time Korra returned. Asami was outside almost before the lookout had time to finish his sentence, but the look on Korra’s face quelled any cheerful greeting she might have mustered.

“What’s wrong?” Asami asked as Korra dismounted from the vehicle she’d been riding, very similar to a motorbike but clearly designed to traverse snowy terrain. Behind the vehicle she towed several more, all riderless and waiting patiently to be occupied.

“Dad’s not there,” Korra said, moving to unhook the tow rope. “No one would tell me where he is.”

Asami’s brow furrowed. “That seems... odd.”

“It is.” Korra wound the rope around her hand and stuffed it into her pack before moving on to the next one. “The only thing I can think of is that he’s doing something he shouldn’t be doing – probably involving the north.”

Asami bit against her bottom lip. “Well... he doesn’t know yet, does he?”

Korra sighed, shaking her head. “No, he doesn’t. Still, I was hoping we could reach him before he tried anything. He might’ve noticed your father’s forces retreating and decided to take advantage of it.”

“Well then,” Asami said, “we’d better find him and talk him around, hadn’t we?”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys. You guys. I am so sorry this took so long. Thank you all so much for your patience I am going to immediately go and start the next chapter now okay enjoy!

After some deliberation it was decided that the airship would be sent home.

“A scouting party could stumble upon it before we get a chance to drag them home by the ears,” Korra pointed out. “It’d be a needless risk of life to keep them here when we don’t really need them.”

And so Asami, Korra and Bolin sat astride their snowmobiles and watched as the ship took to the air and turned back north. Asami’s jaw was set as the ship grew smaller and smaller; that was her way back home. She trusted Korra, but having no way to escape should things go wrong made her more than a little anxious.

Still, she did her best to keep her worrying to herself as they mounted the snowmobiles and set off. They were easy vehicles to operate (for Asami, at least; Bolin had some struggles and more than once ended up headfirst in a snowdrift), but it wasn’t exactly a short trip, and despite her growing nervousness Asami found herself profoundly grateful for the sight of Korra’s village breaking through the trees.

Her gratefulness was dulled, however, when she saw who was waiting outside to greet them.

“Just what in the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kuvira demanded before the engines even had a chance to rumble into silence.

“Hello Kuvira,” Korra said mildly. “It’s nice to see you too.”

Kuvira ignored her, turning her attention onto Asami. “What are you doing here, girl? You ought to know you’re not welcome.”

Asami feigned a look of stunned embarrassment. “I’m not? Oh no. Oh, what a terribly awkward situation. I guess I’ll just go home, then.”

Korra cast her a disapproving glance, but it was obvious she was fighting to conceal her grin. “Kuvira, stow it. Where’s dad?”

“Away.” Kuvira didn’t take her eyes off Asami, and though Asami was more than a little uncomfortable beneath that unwavering glare, she returned it with a look of vast disinterest.

“Away where?”

“I’m not at liberty to discuss his location in the presence of enemies.”

Korra swung out of her seat and stood, standing firmly between Kuvira and Asami. Despite her slightly shorter stature, Korra’s stance made her seem like she was towering over Kuvira, and though Kuvira didn’t so much as flinch Asami swore she caught a flicker of uncertainty cross the southerner’s sharp features.

“They aren’t enemies, Kuvira,” Korra said firmly. “It can’t have escaped your attention that Hiroshi has withdrawn his forces. We’re brokering a peace – that’s what she’s doing here.”

“And I should believe that why?” Kuvira spat. “How am I supposed to believe that you convinced Hiroshi Sato to withdraw?”

“I’m not sharing anything until dad gets back,” Korra said. “So call him back.”

“I can’t.”

“Fine, then I will.”

“Korra.” Kuvira’s look was pleading. “You _can’t_.”

“Why not?” Korra was getting exasperated now. “This _is_ fairly important, Kuvira. Particularly if whatever he’s up to involves the north in some way.”

“It doesn’t.” Kuvira cast a brief glance at Asami and Bolin before grabbing Korra’s arm and pulling her in to murmur quietly into her ear.

Whatever she said had a profound effect on Korra. The tension drained from her shoulders only to be replaced by something else, something Asami couldn’t quite make out from where she sat astride her snowmobile. “How long?”

“A week or so. It was fast – nobody saw it coming.”

Korra remained silent for a long moment. “I’m going.”

Kuvira didn’t argue. “Of course, but...” She glanced at the two northerners again.

“They’ll come with me. I don’t trust you to look after them.” It was blunt, but Kuvira accepted the reasoning with a firm nod. “Send word ahead; tell them I’m on my way. We’ll refuel and leave immediately.”

Kuvira left without another word, and when Korra turned to Asami, she finally identified what had replaced that tension.

It was fear.

“Korra, what’s happened?” Asami asked.

Korra’s eyes were distant and unseeing as she answered. “It’s... it’s my mother. She’s ill.”

Asami’s heart clenched hard in her chest. “How bad is it?”

“Bad,” Korra said. “Our healers here couldn’t do anything for her. Dad’s taken her to another village, about two days’ ride away. The best healer in the south lives there.”

“Korra...” Asami reached out, but Korra shook her head, her lips pressing into a thin line.

“Don’t,” she said, and Asami’s hand froze midway between them. “She’s not dead. There’s still a chance. We just need to get to her and find out what’s wrong.”

Though the rejection stung a little, Asami understood. Hope was a powerful ally in the face of loss. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s go.”

 

 

Over the next two days Asami was faced with how sheltered her life in the north had been.

Korra was clearly attuned to this environment, and it showed. She knew which paths to take through the trees and which to avoid; she could identify the hunting grounds, it seemed, of almost any dangerous predator and led them along safer routes; and when they pitched their tents for the night she insisted they do so in a spot where the wind buffeted them against a sheer cliff face. Though both Asami and Bolin protested, they were later proven wrong when the wind changed and found them cosily sheltered by the towering wall of stone at their backs.

Though Asami and Bolin did their best to keep up and not be a burden, Korra’s mood didn’t improve the further south they moved. Asami couldn’t fault her for it. The loss of her own mother had been abrupt, out of her control; had she been presented with the opportunity to do something about it, slim as the chances may have been, she’d have seized it with the same grim determination that Korra had drawn about herself now.

They were all in sombre moods when they finally reached the village. As they pulled in amidst the various huts and cabins Asami found herself, not for the first time, profoundly grateful for the change of clothes Korra had provided the two northerners before they set out. Curious villagers poured into the street to see who had arrived, and had they for a minute suspected that Asami and Bolin were northerners... Asami did her best not to think about it.

As it was, their fairer skin was sure to give them away, and so they kept their deep, fur-lined hoods up and their heads down as they approached a large cabin at the head of the village.

Two guards were posted outside, but as soon as they saw Korra they bowed and moved to hurriedly open the door for her. Korra stormed past them with a regal bearing Asami had never seen in her before while Asami and Bolin shuffled in behind her, avoiding eye contact with the guards.

The inside of the cabin was roomier than Asami had been expecting, and blessedly warm. She didn’t waste time taking in her surroundings, however – her gaze remained on Korra, who had moved immediately to the centre of the room, where a sickly-looking – but undeniably beautiful – woman was submerged to her neck in a pool of quietly steaming water.

“Korra,” Tonraq breathed when he saw her. Asami was taken aback by how gentle his voice was – it was a far cry from the gruff, brisk chief she’d spoken to on Air Temple Island. “Thank the spirits.”

Korra’s mother cracked her eyes open and a wan smile brightened her features, if only a little. “Korra?”

“I’m here,” Korra said softly, dropping to her knees beside the pool and pressing a kiss to her mother’s head. “What kind of trouble did you get into while I was gone, hm?”

Korra’s mother tried to laugh, but the gentle sound twisted into a bout of fitful coughing. A calm-looking old woman moved to adjust some valves at the side of the pool; the steam thickened a moment and soon enough the coughing subsided.

Korra waited for her mother to settle again before looking up at her father.

“We don’t know,” Tonraq said helplessly. “It’s nothing Katara has seen before and none of her methods seem to be working.”

Korra looked to the old woman hovering near the row of valves. “Katara?”

“I’m sorry, Korra.” Katara’s voice was raspy, but warm and genuine. “All we’ve been able to do is fight the symptoms. We’ve kept her alive for this long but if we don’t figure out what’s happening soon, we may very well lose her.”

Asami found herself surprised by Katara’s bluntness, but more surprising was the fact that she managed to say it without sounding harsh. Asami guessed there was a history of familiarity between Katara and Korra’s family – perhaps Katara was Korra’s grandmother?

Tonraq finally looked up at them then and Asami’s blood ran cold with sudden panic. “This probably isn’t the best place to have friends over, you know,” he said to Korra. Though his tone was a little more firm, Asami was surprised by how gentle he came across now.

“I couldn’t leave them,” Korra said flatly, not taking her attention from her mother. “Has anybody new been around home lately? Someone unfamiliar?”

Tonraq’s gaze lingered on Asami and Bolin for a moment before turning back to Korra. Asami breathed a small sigh of relief. “No,” the Chief said, “no one. We’ve checked.”

“We have considered the possibility of poison,” Katara said. “If it is, it’s not one we’ve seen before.”

“Not exactly an outlandish thing,” Korra murmured. “How hard can it be to make poison?”

Tonraq grunted his agreement. “We’ve considered it. The biggest problem, obviously, is that new poison means an unknown antidote. We’ve tried everything.”

Katara was glancing back and forth between Korra, Tonraq, and Asami and Bolin. “Perhaps you should all go and rest for a while,” she suggested carefully. “Korra has just come a very long way; I’m sure she and her friends are very tired. I will send word if anything develops.”

It was a clear dismissal. Tonraq hesitated, casting one last worried glance at his ailing wife, but forced himself to turn and leave the cabin. Korra, Asami and Bolin followed in silence.

“How long has it been?” Korra asked as soon as the cabin door swung closed behind them.

“Three days at Katara’s, a week since she started getting ill.” Tonraq leaned heavily against the porch railing, rubbing a hand wearily over his face. “We sent a messenger to Air Temple Island but you must have missed each other. Did you take a different route home?”

“You could say that,” Korra murmured, casting Asami a sidelong glance.

“And who are your friends? Did you steal some of Tenzin’s youngsters?”

“Not... exactly,” Korra said carefully. “Maybe we should go inside for this.”

Tonraq’s brow furrowed suspiciously, but he followed Korra to a small hut not far from the cabin. Asami assumed it belonged to their family, going by the familiar way in which Korra breezed through the flap and inside.

Asami and Bolin exchanged an anxious glance as they followed the two southerners inside. In their rush to get to Korra’s mother Asami had almost forgotten her nerves; now they returned a hundredfold as the prospect of confronting Tonraq became a rapidly approaching reality.

“Alright Korra,” Tonraq said, shrugging off his thick outer jacket as the fire crackling in a pit in the middle of the room warmed them almost immediately. “What’s going on?”

Korra followed suit, taking off her jacket and twisting it nervously in her hands. “Well...”

Tonraq caught on to his daughter’s guilt almost immediately. “Korra,” he said dangerously.

Korra sighed and made a vague gesture to Asami and Bolin. Though her heart was hammering wildly in her chest and she was barely containing outright panic, Asami reached up and pulled her hood down with far more calm than she was feeling. “It’s nice to see you again, Chief Tonraq,” she said, profoundly grateful for the steady tone of her voice.

Tonraq’s eyes bulged, but to his credit, he didn’t explode the way Hiroshi had. Instead, he turned to Korra. “Explain,” he said coldly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh look another chapter how did that happen

As Korra finished talking, Tonraq’s steely gaze slid slowly between Asami and Bolin.

The decidedly unimpressed Chief of the Southern Tribes had been standing there listening to Korra explain with the same hard, unmoving expression for what felt like hours. The sudden shift of his features was enough to make Bolin startle violently behind the two women and Asami felt a similar urge rise in her chest, but she suppressed it before her body could react.

“You’re lacking one of your goons,” Tonraq said.

It wasn’t exactly what Asami had been expecting and it took her a moment to catch up. “We left Mako in the Reach. He’s a little more... inflammatory than Bolin is.”

“Was he the one who was always yelling?”

Bolin made a poor attempt at stifling his snort and even Asami had to raise her hand to surreptitiously cover her own smile. “I... wasn’t aware he was being _quite_ so disruptive.”

“The whole island could hear him.” Tonraq didn’t so much as crack a smile as he looked back to Korra. “So this is your next big plan, huh?”

“It wasn’t my idea! Well, not at first, anyway.” Korra paused. “It probably should have been, though,” she amended thoughtfully. “As it turns out, it’s a good one.”

Tonraq’s jaw ticked slightly but Korra met his ire with rather a smug look and said nothing more.

“So how long, exactly, did it take your teenage hormones to tell you that you’re in love with her?”

Korra rolled her eyes. “Really? ‘Teenage hormones’? You literally use that excuse every time. I’m twenty one years old, dad.”

Asami arched an unwilling eyebrow at ‘every time’, but held her tongue.

“Well, it’s either that or you’ve completely lost the plot,” Tonraq said, his flat tone unchanging for so much as a syllable. “I can’t believe you’ve already been to the Reach and made an announcement.”

Korra rolled her shoulders in a shrug. “We figured we’d knock down the hardest obstacle first. Hiroshi Sato’s a lot scarier than you are.” She grinned.

Asami didn’t particularly understand how Korra was so calm beneath Tonraq’s cool anger. She was acting like a child who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar – not a woman who had just told her father she was marrying into his mortal enemy’s family. And from the look on Tonraq’s face, he wasn’t softening to his daughter’s sly humour.

“You do realise how extraordinarily _little_ this is going to fix, don’t you?” Tonraq said, his gaze boring into Korra’s. “The war may come to an end on the battlefield, but for every fire you put out in the field, a dozen more spring up somewhere else. Our people have been warring for _generations_ – convincing people to stop hating each other by nature is going to be a full-time job for the both of you.

“Not to mention,” he continued sternly as Korra opened her mouth to speak, “the rather obvious issue of the two of you being women.”

Asami wasn’t particularly surprised by this, though she did wonder how it fell so far on Tonraq’s list of concerns. Korra, however, looked like she’d just been slapped in the face. “But you –”

“Children, Korra! Think!” Tonraq’s voice raised an octave or two, but his arms remained folded across his huge chest and his expression seemed only to grow harder. “You aren’t going to live forever, you know – a marriage with political ramifications of this magnitude _must_ be secure! You need an heir – an heir who’s neither north or south, but both. A child _of_ the two of you. It’s not possible.”

“We’ll... we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it,” Korra stammered.

“You’re past it!” Tonraq barked. “You’re so far gone the bridge may as well have never existed!”

“Okay, let’s not get dramatic,” Korra drawled, apparently regaining some of her former calm.

Tonraq glared at her until the vein that had popped up in his neck settled down again. “It doesn’t matter now, anyway,” he said, his voice dropping back into a calmer tone. “You’ve already set this plan in motion. There’s no stopping it now.”

“You aren’t going to protest this?” Asami asked.

Tonraq’s gaze turned back to her. It was still hard, but the fight seemed to have gone out of those icy blue eyes. “Why should I? You’ve already announced to the entire north that you’re engaged. If I do anything to keep it from going forward, I’ve got a northern prisoner on my hands. A very important prisoner,” he added pointedly, narrowing his gaze at Korra. “Hiroshi would have a field day.”

As much as it grated Asami to hear Tonraq talk about her father that way, she couldn’t really disagree with him. In the state that Hiroshi was in now, the slightest provocation would be used as an excuse for a direct invasion of the south.

“Besides,” Tonraq said, his expression softening, “Senna...”

“Mom’s going to be just fine,” Korra said sharply, cutting him off. “She’s going to be here for the wedding and she’s going to be here for plenty of anniversaries after.”

Tonraq watched Korra wearily for a moment before shaking his head. “Asami, you and Bolin are welcome in the south. I’ll put the word out. But _please_ stay out of trouble, Korra,” he added. “This is going to be difficult enough as it is.”

Korra rolled her eyes, but then that grin was back. “So they can stay here, right?”

Tonraq levelled that familiar, stony look on his daughter.

Korra’s face fell. “Please?”

Tonraq grabbed his jacket and started to walk out.

“Dad.”

He stopped at the sudden seriousness in Korra’s voice.

“They’re staying here. There isn’t a single guard in all the south that I’d trust to protect them. If you won’t let them stay here, I’m going to sit outside their tent myself.”

Asami stared. Korra’s bearing had gone from ‘snide teenager’ to ‘giving orders’ in the blink of an eye; the sudden, seamless shift both bewildered and fascinated her, but she quickly tore her eyes away to avoid outright staring. Her gaze landed on Tonraq a split second before the tiniest hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He gave a single, begrudging nod, and then left.

“What was that about?” Asami asked as Korra rolled her eyes and threw her arms in the air, plainly exasperated.

“He likes to do stupid, stubborn shit sometimes so that I’ll play Great Leader and tell him no,” Korra explained, dropping down beside the fire. “He thinks of it as a training exercise.”

Bolin let out an explosive breath. “Okay, tell me honestly. Am I still alive? Because I’m pretty sure I died at one point there.”

Asami laughed as she lowered herself to sit beside Korra. “You’re fine, Bolin.”

“Are you sure?” Bolin started to make some show of patting himself over and checking the colour of his fingernails.

Asami hardly paid attention to him. Korra’s arm had slipped around her middle, and the sudden jolt in her chest reminded her how much she’d missed this closeness.

“Are you okay?” Korra murmured quietly.

Asami gave a wry smile, leaning into Korra’s side. “I think I should be the one asking you that,” she said softly.

“But I haven’t once asked you that since we got here.” Korra’s eyes betrayed her guilt and Asami raised a hand to gently cup the side of the southerner’s face.

“Considering the circumstances, I think I can forgive you,” Asami said, and Korra laughed quietly.

“I guess.”

Asami let her hand fall and Korra’s free one found it almost immediately, fingers intertwining. “And to answer your question, I’m... cold.” She grinned as Korra rolled her eyes and drew her in closer. “But surprisingly okay now that we’ve broken the news to your father.”

Korra chuckled. “Like I said, Hiroshi is way scarier than my dad.”

Bolin cleared his throat then, drawing the two out of each other for a moment. He was staring wide-eyed at something behind them; turning, Asami saw they were no longer alone.

“I’m sorry!” the girl burst out, her pretty features erupting into a hot blush. “I heard that Korra was back and I –”

Korra hopped to her feet with a broad grin. “Opal, chill.” She caught the girl up in a crushing hug.

Opal laughed as she returned the hug, waiting patiently for Korra to set her back on her feet. “So Tonraq just told me that you brought a girl home from your little vacation.”

Asami, who had risen to her feet, smiled rather guiltily as she held her hands behind her back, closer to the fire. They were still _freezing_.

“You could say that,” Korra said sheepishly. “Opal, this is Asami, my uh... fiancée.”

The bright smile Opal had been beaming in Asami’s direction faltered. “Fiancée? Korra, I was just _kidding_. What about –”

“And this is Bolin!” Korra interrupted, forcing Opal’s attention to the furiously blushing northern boy who continued to hover awkwardly at the back of the room. “Asami and Bolin, this is Opal. Lifelong friend and pain in my ass.” She laughed as she avoided a swat from Opal. “She’s Su’s youngest.”

To her credit, Opal went along with the none-too-subtle change of subject, but Asami still caught a suspicious glance or two cast in Korra’s direction. “It’s so nice to meet you both,” she said instead. “I’ve never met a northerner before. I mean, obviously.” 

“It’s really great to meet you too, Opal!” Bolin burst out. “That’s a really pretty name. I like it a lot.”

“Oh, uh... thanks.” Opal blushed prettily again, and Korra and Asami exchanged a knowing look.

“That didn’t take long,” Korra muttered.

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, Opal.” Korra grinned. “Did you come out here with dad?”

Opal’s face fell. “Yeah, I helped him bring Senna. Korra, I’m so –”

Korra cut her off with a hard look. “Don’t,” she said, echoing her earlier words to Asami. “It’s not over yet. Besides, we have guests in our presence, and the Great Fair isn’t too far from here. Let’s show them how we party in the south.” Her grin could have split her face clean in two but Asami wasn’t fooled.

 

 

It didn’t take them long to reach the Great Fair.

They took two snowmobiles – to save on fuel, Korra had said, ignoring Bolin’s unfounded concern that it would take them longer to get there. “I’m _starving_ ,” he had said, very defensively, when Asami levelled a scathing look at him.

“You’re probably the least subtle person I’ve ever met,” Asami said over her shoulder as she drove, raising her voice to be heard above the engine. Korra had very graciously offered the driver’s seat to Asami while Opal was driving the other vehicle, Bolin clinging to her for dear life.

“You’re in on this just as much as I am,” Korra shot back, her arms tightening around Asami’s middle as the northerner wove expertly through a small copse of tightly woven trees.

“What do you mean?”

“Come on. Look at Opal.”

Asami spared a brief glance for the other vehicle and happened to catch Opal’s eye. They grinned at one another before slamming their throttles wide open and taking off with twin cries of alarm from their passengers. So far the whole trip had been little more than a race between the two drivers, and Bolin seemed just as reluctant to let go of Opal as Korra was to let go of Asami. _And probably for much the same reasons_ , Asami thought idly as she shifted her weight to accommodate the motions of the snowmobile. They were good vehicles, she had to admit – but she was already contemplating several modifications to improve speed and stability, her engineer’s mind ticking over furiously as she drove.

Within the hour they were breaking through the trees and pulling to a stop at the crest of a long, gently sloping hill. The sun was starting to set, casting a blaze of fiery orange over the horizon, and nestled cosily in the valley below was a sprawling ocean of many-coloured lights floating amidst tents made of brightly coloured material.

“The Great Southern Fair,” Korra said expansively. “Where merchants from every tribe gather to eat, get drunk, and beat each other up – amidst selling their wares to anyone with coin to spare.”

Asami had read about the Fair, but she never expected to see it with her own eyes. It was far more beautiful than any book had ever prepared her for; the glow from the lights blossomed into an ethereal dome over the tents, and the darker the night grew, the stronger the glow became, as if a magical shield to ward off the dangers of the night.

She was so busy staring she hardly noticed when Opal and Bolin started down the hill toward the fair. “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Korra murmured into her ear, and she blushed.

“Incredibly,” she agreed.

Korra’s lips brushed the crook of her jaw, and she shivered, but the contact didn’t last long. “Come on,” Korra said, her grin evident in her voice. “Let’s get down there before Bolin eats everything in sight.”


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND FINALLY ANOTHER CHAPTER YAY 
> 
> I apologise in advance if it's not quite as up to par as the others have been, it was a tiny bit rushed so I haven't really revised it very thoroughly. Hope you enjoy anyway!

The Fair was louder than Asami had been expecting. The all-pervading hum of hundreds of voices rising through the brisk southern air was mellowed slightly by the music - always something different, dozens of musicians playing for money in the busier thoroughfares through the tents and stalls.

Korra and Opal led them confidently through the labyrinthine streets, obviously familiar enough with the Fair to know exactly where they were going. “Do you come here very often?” Asami asked Korra.

“Fairly,” Korra said, and then grinned, distracted by her own joke. “Heh. _Fairly_.”

Asami rolled her eyes.

“Katara’s like family, so we come to visit her a lot,” Opal offered helpfully. “And whenever we visit Katara, we come to the Fair.”

“They have the _best_ food here, Asami,” Korra said excitedly, grabbing Asami’s hand and pulling her toward a row of food stalls. “You _have_ to try sea prune stew - and there’s one guy who does the most amazing blubbered seal jerky in the _world_. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried it.”

“What’s arctic hen?” Bolin asked curiously, peering up at a menu board.

“In a word? _Delicious_ ,” Korra sighed.

Asami laughed, giving Korra an affectionate nudge with her shoulder. “Anybody would think you like the food here,” she teased.

Though the southerner’s cheeks flushed, she beamed. “I _live_ for the food here.”

Asami smiled. Though she knew Korra’s thoughts weren’t likely to have drifted far from Senna, she was at least happy to have distracted her from her worry at least a little. “Come on, then,” she said, lacing her fingers with Korra’s. “Let’s eat.”

The Fair had much more than just food to offer, and as they ate they wandered through the brightly coloured tents, playing games and browsing through the wares on offer. Before too long they came upon a large, open area, almost like a town square, with one large, low tent in the very centre.

Korra and Opal exchanged a baffled look. “This is new,” Korra remarked.

“Yeah,” Opal agreed, frowning a little. “Really new. I was just here a couple of weeks ago.”

“What do you think it is?” Bolin asked. “Another food stall?”

Asami laughed. “You’re going to single-handedly eat this whole Fair out of business at this rate, Bolin,” she teased.

Bolin shrugged. “I’m a growing boy.”

“I don’t know what it is, but I want to find out,” Korra said, grabbing Asami’s hand and pulling her toward the tent.

The tent’s flaps were closed, but a small sign by the door invited visitors to let themselves in. 

“Well, we have no choice now,” Bolin said, pulling one of the flaps aside to let the girls in ahead of him.

Inside the tent was almost pitch dark, save for a single brazier lighting a stage in the centre of the room. Either side of the brazier stood two figures in typical southern outfits, save for deep hoods shrouding their faces in shadow. As Asami and the others moved nearer to the stage, a third figure emerged - dressed much like the other two, but with his hood draped around his shoulders, revealing his shaved head and letting the firelight reflect eerily in his dark, intense eyes.

“Welcome,” he said in a deep, smooth voice, “to the Red Lotus.” As he spoke, the two figures either side of the fire reached out and dropped a handful each of red powder into the brazier, and a puff of smoke billowed up from the flames, forming what was unmistakably a lotus bloom before dissipating almost as fast as it had appeared.

Bolin’s impressed “oooh” went largely unnoticed. “What do you do here?” Korra asked.

The man smiled, and for some reason, that expression set Asami on edge. “We provide entertainment, much like many of our neighbours.”

“What kind of entertainment?”

“Why don’t one of you join us on the stage and find out?”

It was a challenge, that much was obvious - as was the possibility that there was much, much more that the strange man wasn’t telling them. The four hesitated, and the man’s lips pulled into a knowing smile. For some reason, that expression irked Asami, and she did something she probably shouldn’t have.

She let go of Korra’s hand and stepped up to the stage.

“What are you doing?” Korra asked, startled.

“Finding out,” Asami said, facing the man across the brazier. She didn’t smile, didn’t blink, and this seemed only to amuse him further.

“Brave volunteer,” he said, “do you wish to challenge the Red Lotus?”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” She ignored her friends hissing at her to get down. It was far too late to back out now.

The man’s grin was wicked. “As you wish.”

 

“I can’t believe it was just a game of fucking pai sho,” Asami said as they returned to the village, filing into Korra’s home.

“You _destroyed_ him, though,” Opal pointed out, gesturing to the enormous polar bear dog plush Asami had hefted back with her.

“Yes, but all that show for pai sho? I thought he was going to start spitting fireballs at me or something.”

“I think we ate too much,” Bolin groaned, flopping down onto the middle of the floor.

“No such thing as too much,” Korra said, though the way she dropped onto the couch, rubbing a hand over her stomach, spoke volumes.

“At least some of us were able to exercise some self-control,” Opal teased, casting Asami a small grin.

“But how _could_ you when there was just so much awesome food?” Bolin whined.

“Iron-fisted determination,” Asami laughed, dropping her prize on top of Bolin and lowering herself to sit beside Korra. The southerner’s hand found her knee and she couldn’t help the warmth that crept into her cheeks.

“Well, I should probably head home,” Opal said, glancing almost reluctantly at Bolin’s spread-eagled figure. “I’ll come by first thing in the morning.”

“Night, Opal,” the three others intoned sleepily. Asami’s eyes had drifted closed and she listened as Opal’s footsteps moved toward the door.

“Oh!”

Opal’s startled voice made Asami look up. She had stopped in the doorway, holding the heavy furs aside, and blocking her way was the last person Asami had expected - or wanted - to see.

“Korra.” Kuvira stepped inside without invitation, all but ignoring Opal. “I need to speak with you.”

Korra arched an eyebrow at her. “You came all this way to talk with me? Don’t you have better things to do - running a small town while dad’s away, for instance?”

“Su’s there. It’ll be fine.” Kuvira’s expression was somehow harder than usual. “ _Now_ , Korra.”

Asami glanced at Opal, who lingered by the doorway, her gaze flickering between Korra and Kuvira. Then those soft green eyes found her own, and there was no denying the guilty, knowing look in them.

“Not sure when it became okay for you to give me orders, Kuv,” Korra said flatly.

Kuvira’s hard expression faltered - it was only for a moment, but it was unmistakable. “Please.”

Though Korra’s hand tightened a little over Asami’s knee, she sighed and rose to her feet. “Fine. But make it quick - I don’t have all night.” With that she strode past Kuvira and out the door. Kuvira cast Asami a look that was pure venom before following.

Opal apparently decided against leaving. She dropped the flap closed behind Kuvira and moved to take up Korra’s vacated seat. “I’m _so_ sorry about that,” she said.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Opal,” Bolin said quickly, pushing himself into a sitting position.

Opal chewed nervously on her bottom lip. “I didn’t really expect her to come all the way out here,” she murmured.

Asami stared at her. “What do you mean?”

Opal shifted awkwardly. “I just… I knew Kuvira would have words for Korra when Tonraq’s announcement reached her, but I thought she’d at least wait until we got home.”

Distantly, the sound of raised, angry voices floated back to them. “Kuvira’s never been very tactful,” Opal added.

Though Asami knew it would be inappropriate to listen, it was almost impossible not to hear what was being said. The three of them fell into an awkward silence as the argument reached their ears.

“I don’t owe you a damn thing, Kuvira!” Korra was shouting. “Of all the arrogant, presumptuous -”

“Arrogant? That’s rich, coming from the woman who said she needed ‘space’ and then came back with a fucking fiancee on her arm!”

“It wasn’t exactly planned in advance,” Korra said wryly.

“My ass it wasn’t,” Kuvira spat. “You’ve been all doe-eyed over that silly little princess almost your entire life! And here I thought it was just a stupid crush that wouldn’t ever go anywhere!”

“How was I supposed to know she’d even _be_ there? Besides, it isn’t her fault that you’re absolutely fucking insufferable -”

“That’s not what you were saying all those times I had my head between your legs.”

Asami’s face burned as she listened and tried to avoid meeting Opal and Bolin’s worried stares. It probably shouldn’t have surprised her that Korra had loose ends to tie up - the whole thing _had_ been rather rushed - but why hadn’t she said anything before now? She did her best to clear those thoughts away and listen.

“This isn’t something you can change, Kuvira,” Korra was saying. “We were done long before I went to Air Temple Island, and whatever you might believe, I _do_ love Asami. There is literally nothing you can say to make me change my mind about this. _Especially_ not when the lives of our people are at stake.”

A stony silence ensued. “Fine,” Kuvira said finally. “Have fun with your little northern whore.”

There was the cracking sound of a fist meeting flesh and Asami, Opal and Bolin scrambled for the door as one, pouring out into the crisp night air. Korra stood over Kuvira, her hands balled into fists and her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. “Leave,” she said, her voice trembling. “Now. Or I swear to all the spirits that ever lived, I _will_ kill you.”

Kuvira glared at her, an angry bruise already rising on her cheek. She spared a brief glance for Asami before rising to her feet with surprising grace and turning to mount the snowmobile parked nearby.

Korra continued staring after Kuvira even as the lights of the snowmobile started to fade into the darkness. Finally, Asami found the courage to approach her. “Hey,” she said gently, touching her fingers to the back of a still shaking fist. “Are you okay?”

Korra’s eyes closed and she drew in a deep breath. “I will be,” she said, her voice still strained, but steadier. “I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” Asami said, but Korra shook her head.

“It isn’t. I should’ve told you about her sooner. I just… I was hoping it could be sorted out a little more quietly.”

“Come back inside,” Asami said, gently grasping Korra’s arm. “We can at least talk where it’s warm.”

Korra nodded and allowed herself to be led back inside, but she avoided Asami’s gaze.

Bolin and Opal were already inside, and they looked up as Korra and Asami entered; but Korra largely ignored them, making her way straight to her bedroom. Asami cast the two an apologetic look before following after her.

Korra started pacing as soon as she was inside, and after closing the door behind her Asami immediately moved to her. “Hey, calm down,” she urged gently. “It’s done now.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Korra said, pushing her hands back through her hair. “I just… she really knows how to get to me, you know? It’s why I broke things off in the first place. Obviously she didn’t think I was serious about it.”

Asami was silent for a moment. “You knew she’d react this way.”

Korra’s nose wrinkled. “I suspected she would, yeah.”

“So you knew, on some level, that you hadn’t been… thorough in breaking it off,” Asami said carefully.

Korra averted her eyes. “I guess so.”

“And you didn’t say anything sooner because…?”

Korra spread her hands in a helpless gesture. “Like I said, I thought I could sort it out a little more quietly. I didn’t expect her to come banging down my door like that. She never really was one for public altercations - not personal ones, anyway.”

Asami moved to sit on the edge of Korra’s bed, fingers curling into the blankets a little. “You don’t think this complicates things?” She probably shouldn’t have been surprised that something like this had happened - it would be more than a little unreasonable to assume that nobody had been interested in Korra before her. But no matter how she turned it around, no matter what angle she viewed it from, she couldn’t convince herself to not be hurt by it.

“Why should it?” Korra asked. “Kuvira’s not the easiest person to deal with, but there’s not a lot she can do.”

“Isn’t there?” Asami asked rather sourly. “She might not be willing to hurt you, but I’m not exactly her favourite person in the world.”

Korra’s brow furrowed. “No,” she said firmly. “She wouldn’t hurt you. She may be upset, but she isn’t vengeful.”

“She sounded pretty vengeful to me.”

“Because you know her so well, right?”

Asami’s eyebrows shot up.

“What?” Korra said. “I grew up with Kuvira, Asami. I _know_ her, like you know Mako and Bolin. She’s a handful when she’s pissed, but she won’t do anything crazy, okay?”

Asami was dubious, but she couldn’t really argue with that. She’d likely react the same way if Korra accused Mako of planning to hurt her. “Okay,” she said finally. “You’re right. You know her better than I ever could.”

Korra moved to sit down beside Asami. “Would it help if I said I’m sorry again?” she asked almost sheepishly. “Because I really am.”

Asami rolled her eyes a little, but couldn’t help her smile. “Really? I wasn’t exactly getting that vibe from you. Maybe you should say it a few more times.”

Korra grinned, leaning in to brush her lips to Asami’s cheek. “Does my Princess want me to grovel?”

Asami only straightened her back slightly, lifting her chin high, though her skin tingled warmly where Korra’s lips had touched it. Though she wasn’t looking directly at her, Asami could see Korra’s grin, but she wasn’t expecting the southerner to slide off the bed and kneel in front of her, hands resting on Asami’s knees.

“Beautiful, gracious, intelligent Asami,” she started in a fawning voice, and Asami immediately laughed.

“Spirits, please don’t,” she said.

Korra whined, though that grin remained firmly in place. “I didn’t even get to start yet! You’re not putting up much of a fight here, _your highness_.”

Asami swatted at Korra and the southerner ducked, laughing, before leaning up to steal a kiss. “What makes you think I want to put up a fight?” Asami murmured against Korra’s lips, pulling back just enough to peer at her with half-lidded eyes.

Korra met her gaze, the grin falling slowly from her lips. Instead of replying verbally, she leaned in again, and this time her kiss was slow and deep and lingering. Asami’s heart hammered, her pulse roaring in her ears, as Korra slowly rose again, urging Asami onto her back.

Asami’s fingers curled into the front of Korra’s jacket, pulling her down with her. The weight of Korra’s firm body settling on top of her sparked something all too familiar inside Asami and she hesitated, hands sliding up to Korra’s shoulders as she met the southerner’s gaze uncertainly.

Korra held her gaze firmly, those stunning eyes carrying a look Asami hadn’t seen before. “I’m not going to pull away from you,” Korra said firmly, a hand sliding down to grasp Asami’s thigh and drag it up alongside her hip. “Not this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...heh
> 
> dw you guys I'm starting on the next part immediately so hopefully there won't be much of a wait for the good stuff!


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE
> 
> a little present for all of you who are as devastated over the 100 as I am
> 
> SMUTSMUTSMUTSMUTSMUT

“Korra…” Asami meant to sound a lot less breathless, but Korra’s hips gave the slightest shift against hers, and the way Korra was holding her leg made the sensation positively _delicious_. Asami’s voice broke with Korra’s name on her lips and her hands pushed up into her lover’s hair, gripping tight.

Korra leaned down as if for a kiss, but paused with her lips hovering a hair’s breadth from Asami’s. “I want you so bad, Asami,” she breathed, giving another slight, slow rock of her hips and seeming to relish the way Asami’s breath caught in her throat, the way her body writhed beneath hers. “I’ve wanted you since I first saw you at Air Temple Island.”

“Korra,” Asami all but whimpered, more than a little embarrassed that she couldn’t seem to manage much more than her lover’s name. She tried again, her voice unsteady. “I… I want…”

“I know,” Korra purred. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting for so long.” She pulled away without giving the kiss that Asami so craved - but Asami’s strained sound of protest faltered when Korra’s lips found her pulse point. Asami’s head tipped back, her breath failing her as those lips burned where they touched, leaving a trail of hot, slow kisses up the column of her throat. 

“Spirits,” Asami managed weakly, her back arching to press herself eagerly into Korra’s body. She grasped tightly at Korra’s jacket again, giving an impatient tug. “Off,” she said, her voice firmer, insistent.

She felt Korra smirk against her skin, and would have protested when the southerner pulled away if she hadn’t been distracted by Korra’s hands unbuttoning her jacket and shrugging away the heavy outer layer.

“Better?” Korra asked, dropping her jacket to the floor.

Asami shook her head, lower lip catching between her teeth.

“No?” Korra’s hand lifted to the high neck of her sleeveless shirt and started to peel the material apart, stopping just before the split reached her collarbone. “You want this gone, too?”

Asami nodded, eyes fixed hungrily on that split of skin between the folds of Korra’s shirt.

Korra’s smirk was devilish. “As you wish, Princess,” she said - but went about pulling her shirt off slowly and deliberately, dragging it out until Asami gave an impatient whine beneath her. That smirk grew into a grin as Korra finally let her shirt fall from her shoulders and tossed it after her jacket.  
Asami swallowed thickly, eyes scoring over Korra’s torso. Her chest was still covered by white linen bindings, but the sharp cut of her abs and the lines of her hips were all too visible, and Asami knew her eyes were dark with hunger as she drank in the sight of her.

“Is this what you wanted?” Korra asked eventually, giving Asami ample time to stare.

“Yes,” Asami breathed, but then she looked back at the wrappings still concealing most of Korra’s torso from view. “No,” she amended, forcing herself to lift her gaze further, meeting Korra’s eyes.

Korra held that stare as she started unwrapping her bindings, as slowly and torturously as she’d removed her shirt, and when the last few strips finally fell away, the sight of Korra’s heavy, round breasts falling free of their bindings sent a pulse of want straight between Asami’s thighs.

Unable to resist, Asami pushed herself up, the shift bringing her right to where she wanted to be. Glancing up to catch Korra’s eyes once again, she closed her lips around an already hardening nipple, the slight slackening of Korra’s jaw and the small, approving groan that escaped in response spurring her on. She let her tongue flick lazily over the trapped bud, hands moving to smooth over Korra’s stomach; the hardness that met her touch coaxed out a soft moan of her own and her fingers flexed slightly as they moved up, greedily exploring every inch of her lover’s bared torso.

“Asami…” Korra panted softly, hips giving a slight rock against Asami’s. In a sudden reversal of position, Korra’s hands started pushing at the shoulders of Asami’s jacket, and Asami let herself pull back to strip out of it with rather less restraint than Korra had shown. Tempting as it may have been to tease Korra in return, the overwhelming need to feel skin on skin won out. Within moments Asami was negligently tossing her jacket and shirt away, but before she could reach around to unclasp her bra, Korra’s hands were on her shoulders, gently pushing her down onto her back again. She went willingly, peering up at Korra with hooded eyes and watching as the southerner’s gaze scored hungrily over her bare torso.

“Beautiful,” Korra breathed, her voice tinged with more than mere lust. Asami’s breath caught in her throat as her lover’s eyes finally found hers again. “You are so beautiful, Asami.” Korra’s gaze held hers, and for a fleeting moment Asami felt that she would disappear without those eyes on her.

Finally, unable to bear what little distance lingered between them any longer, Asami lifted her head in search of Korra’s lips - only to meet air as the southerner teasingly pulled away. An embarrassingly pitiful whine broke from Asami before she could stop it, and Korra’s breath brushed over her still-parted lips as she chuckled. “You want to kiss me?” Korra asked softly, leaning in as if to give Asami what she wanted, letting her lips just barely touch Asami’s but pulling back without making any real contact.

“Yes,” Asami panted, hands sliding up to cup either side of Korra’s jaw in an attempt to pull her in, but Korra continued to resist, lips parted in a wide grin.

“So kiss me,” she purred, and Asami couldn’t fight back the frustrated sound that escaped as she failed to do as challenged.

Just when Asami was on the verge of dragging Korra to her by her damn hair, those lips finally found hers and she surged up against them, a weak moan breaking the silence as teeth scored hard against lips in their eagerness. Asami’s hands shot up to clasp at Korra’s back, digging her nails in hard before dragging them down her lover’s back; Korra’s body arched fluidly with the movement, a strained groan muffled between them when the motion culminated in her hips grinding hard into Asami’s. Asami reached down to grasp hard at Korra’s ass, dragging the southerner repeatedly against herself in an almost frantic rhythm, but Korra only allowed it for a moment before she was pulling away again.

Again, Asami started to protest, and again she was cut off as Korra flipped her onto her stomach. She went willingly, shimmying her hips as Korra went about freeing her from her pants, until she was spread out naked before her.

For a moment, Korra did nothing, and Asami cast a glance back over her shoulder. She became aware of her parted lips and flushed cheeks only when Korra’s gaze found hers and the southerner grabbed Asami’s hips, pulling her onto her knees. Asami pressed her torso further into the mattress, arching herself invitingly toward Korra, and was rewarded with a heady groan of approval.

Korra’s hands slid up the inside of Asami’s thighs and Asami felt herself tremble as they rose higher, only to fall away again and push her legs further apart. She let out a heavy pant, pushing her face into the pillow and giving an impatient rock as Korra’s hands rose again, trying to force them where she wanted them to go.

“Goodness,” Korra remarked, her tone mild but her voice rough with lust. “It’s almost as if you want something, Princess.”

Asami half-groaned, half-whined into her pillow.

“What is it you want, hm?” Korra asked, fingertips trailing teasing patterns against Asami’s inner thighs.

Though Asami’s face burned with the question, she lifted her head to look over her shoulder at her lover. “I want you to touch me,” she breathed.

“Oh?” Korra’s hands finally slid higher, and when her index finger glided effortlessly over Asami’s already soaking wet clit, Asami saw stars. “Is that all?”

“Fuck,” she hissed, rocking her hips hard against Korra’s hand and crying out when the southerner didn’t pull away, the extra contact making her head swim.

Korra leaned over, lips brushing over the back of Asami’s shoulder. “What was that, Princess? I didn’t quite hear you.” Her middle finger joined her index in sliding firmly over Asami’s clit, her hips instinctively rocking slowly back and forth with their movement, making Asami rock slightly into her pillow.

Asami’s thoughts scattered to the winds with that torturously good motion, and it took several long moments for her to regain them. Once again, she looked back over her shoulder, her heart leaping into her throat when she saw how close Korra’s face was to hers.

“Fuck me, Korra,” she purred, and the southerner’s eyes practically glazed over with lust. Without ceremony, she pulled her fingers back just enough to position them against Asami’s entrance and thrust forward, meeting little resistance as her lover’s arousal immediately coated her fingers. 

Korra’s groan of approval was drowned out by Asami’s strained cries of pleasure as those probing digits immediately grazed over the most sensitive place inside her. Korra immediately struck up a merciless pace, hard enough to rock the bed against the wall, and though the movement of her fingers was haphazard, overwhelmed by need, it _worked_ ; Asami found herself biting down hard on the pillow in an attempt to stifle her screams, her hands gripping the sheets so hard they felt in danger of tearing.

“ _Spirits_ , Asami,” Korra panted, straightening and grasping Asami’s hip with her free hand to drag her hips back with every forward thrust of her hand. “You feel _so good_.”

Asami felt herself clasp hard around Korra’s fingers and the southerner groaned her approval, quickening her pace. Asami’s cries became almost frantic as she realised she was already on the verge of her climax, but she wanted it too badly to be embarrassed by it; and when Korra’s blunt nails dug in against her hip and she murmured her encouragement - “Fuck, I can _feel_ how close you are” - Asami’s body shattered.

Her orgasm rocked her to her core, her inner walls clamped so tight that Korra’s fingers all but stopped moving, unable to fight their hold. Her hips bucked wildly, her voice cracking and breaking with the force of her scream, her lips starting to form her lover’s name and faltering midway. Her whole body seized and trembled in waves, so violently she thought she might pass out; but then the last shock of her orgasm faded and she fell limp against the blankets, breathless.

Korra lingered inside her for several long moments, even as she leaned over and trailed slow, lazy kisses up Asami’s spine. Asami shivered a little and bit out a pathetic mewling sound, but couldn’t bring herself to move, even to embrace Korra, no matter how much she wanted to.

“You okay, Princess?” Korra asked, voice muffled slightly against the back of her shoulder.

Asami couldn’t help a weak laugh, and managed to nod her head. “Better than okay,” she agreed dreamily.

Korra chuckled, leaning up to nuzzle a kiss to the back of Asami’s neck as she carefully pulled her fingers free. Asami breathed out a warm sound, finally finding the strength to roll over and pull Korra down for a slow, sweet kiss.

“I love you,” Korra murmured against her lips, and Asami couldn’t have fought back her smile if she tried.

“I love you too, Korra.” She allowed herself a moment to bask in Korra’s gaze before she forced her eyes to drop, a single eyebrow arching. “This, however,” she hummed, reaching down to trail her fingers around the line of Korra’s still-present pants, “is unforgivable.”

Korra chuckled again even as she stole another kiss. “I got distracted.”

“So fix it,” Asami demanded, smile broadening into an impish grin.

Korra smirked, pushing herself up onto her knees. “Yes, your highness,” she drawled, hooking her thumbs into her pants and slowly dragging them down.

“You enjoy teasing, don’t you?” Asami remarked mildly, even as her eyes followed hungrily the movement of the soft blue material over Korra’s smooth brown skin.

“The reactions are worth it,” Korra shrugged, flashing a knowing smirk as she pushed herself up to rid herself of her pants entirely. Lowering herself back to her knees, she slid her hands over her muscular thighs, her eyes never leaving Asami’s face. “Better?”

“Much,” Asami agreed, reaching out for her. Korra leaned forward obligingly, and Asami leaned up for a kiss - only to shift her weight and throw Korra onto her back, reversing their positions.

Korra let out a startled sound, but was laughing by the time her back hit the mattress. “Got some tricks up your sleeve, huh Princess?”

“You have _no_ idea,” Asami purred, grinning as she moved to straddle Korra’s hips.

“I think I might like to find out,” Korra said, her eyes dropping to watch as Asami’s core settled against her own.

“Oh?” Asami asked, giving a slow, tantalising rock of her hips. “Is that so?”

Korra’s head pressed back into the pillow as she bit out a groan. “Yeah,” she agreed rather distractedly.

Asami’s lower lip caught between her teeth as she watched Korra’s reactions, stifling her own moans as her wetness quickly soaked Korra’s lips. Leaning forward, she dropped onto one arm, her long, silky hair falling down to curtain them both. “I think that can be arranged,” she breathed, trapping Korra’s lip between her teeth and rolling her hips again.

Korra’s hands found Asami’s hips and gripped tight, trying to pull Asami into a more constant rhythm, but Asami fought against the insistent southerner’s grasp, letting herself rock against her lover in deliberately faltering patterns. When Korra gave a frustrated little growl, Asami pulled up slightly to smirk at her. “Goodness,” she said, imitating Korra’s earlier tease. “It’s almost as if you want something.”

“I’d have thought that would be obvious by now.” Though the remark was rather snide, Korra’s tone was almost pleading.

Instead of continuing the torment as Korra had done, Asami pushed herself back up again, catching and holding Korra’s gaze. Her lower lip found its way back between her teeth, and she watched Korra’s eyes flicker to her mouth, the southerner’s lips parted with desire. Slowly, her hips started rocking with more determination than before, and when Korra’s head started to tip back with her groan, Asami reached up to push her fingers back through her hair, tipping her head back and letting out a sultry moan. She _felt_ Korra’s stare return to her almost immediately, and when she dropped her arms to lean back against the southerner’s thighs, her instinct was confirmed by those eyes immediately catching and holding her own.

They didn’t stay there for long; the moment Asami’s body started rolling with the movement of her hips Korra’s gaze dropped, her tongue peeking out to wet her lips hungrily as she stared, her own hips starting to match the movement of Asami’s, desperately seeking friction.

As much as she longed to prolong the torture, Asami couldn’t resist forever. She slowly came to a halt and shifted, pushing Korra’s thighs apart and moving up between them, brushing a trail of languid kisses up her lover’s stomach. Her fingertips teased the southerner’s soaking wet lips until she was rewarded with a strangled moan, and she glanced up, once again meeting Korra’s gaze. She held it, unwavering, as she slowly pushed her middle and index fingers inside.

Korra sucked in a breath and her back arched slightly, and when Asami started to move her fingers that breath was released on a high-pitched exclamation. “ _Fuck_ , Asami,” Korra panted, her hips rolling with the movement of Asami’s fingers.

“That’s the plan,” Asami purred before her lips found their way back to Korra’s chest. Her lips closed over a hardened nipple exactly when she pushed her thumb over Korra’s clit, and was rewarded with a sound she was sure would wake the entire house. She was almost as sure she didn’t care.

Asami tried to maintain a hard, steady pace, but Korra’s breathless moans were too delicious to pass up. Before long she was all but rutting against Korra in her eagerness, driving her fingers relentlessly to coax out more of those sounds and being richly rewarded for her effort. Korra’s legs lifted to brace her feet against the mattress either side of Asami’s hips, bucking hard against her hand, and with every sudden clasp of Korra’s inner walls around her fingers Asami picked up her pace, renewed the angle of her fingers, pressed harder with her thumb -

Korra came so suddenly that for a moment, Asami wasn’t even sure she was coming - that is until her back arched sharply from the bed and she clamped down hard around Asami’s fingers, and Asami immediately understood why Korra had been unable to move during her own climax. She struggled to keep pressure where it was needed, driving Korra through every last wave of her orgasm and watching intently the erratic buck and roll of the southerner’s body as it rode those waves.

Finally, Korra fell limp, and Asami leaned down to trail kisses along Korra’s collarbone while her lover regained her breath.

They lingered together in silence for several long moments, Asami’s chin resting between Korra’s breasts as she watched the southerner recover.

“Not ready to leave yet, hm?” Korra asked eventually, peering down to flash a grin as she tightened a little around Asami’s fingers.

Asami hummed a warm sound, curling her fingers forward slightly in response and smirking when Korra gave a soft moan. “Not yet,” she agreed, turning to brush her lips over the side of Korra’s breast.

Korra’s hands found their way into Asami’s hair, stroking lightly. “Take all the time you need.” She grinned. “Just maybe don’t fall asleep like that.”

Asami lifted her head, arching a slender eyebrow at Korra. “Sleep?” She asked archly. “Oh, no. I’m nowhere near done with you yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for any mistakes, I am quite sleepy and honestly just really relieved to have finally finished this damn chapter


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> surprise!! I'm really sorry for the unbelievably long wait you guys, I've had so much going on but I've found the time to finally write more and i'm going to really push myself to finish it this time!

Asami woke slowly the next morning, still half-asleep as she stretched languidly beneath the heavy fur blankets. She smiled sleepily as she felt Korra shift closer to her in her sleep – and then felt her ears inexplicably redden as the memory of the previous night crashed over her. Turning her head, she watched Korra’s peaceful expression for a moment, heart pounding in her chest. The bed still smelled faintly of sex, which shouldn’t have been surprising – she’d probably only been asleep a few short hours, but she felt strangely refreshed.

Turning to face Korra, she entangled her legs with the southerner’s, arms wrapping around her muscular figure to draw her in closer. Korra stirred, mumbling incoherently as she pressed her face against Asami’s collar.

“Good morning,” Asami hummed, kissing the top of Korra’s head and letting her eyes fall closed as she breathed in the woman’s scent.

“No,” Korra mumbled, her voice muffled against Asami’s skin. “Not yet. More sleep.”

Asami chuckled, her arms tightening around Korra. “But it’s morning.”

“Don’t care. Wake me in the afternoon.”

“I don’t want to wait until the afternoon,” Asami said, putting on a playful whine.

“Too bad.”

Asami grinned, letting a hand skim down Korra’s side and over her hip. Shifting slightly, she pressed a soft kiss to the height of Korra’s jawbone, just beside her ear. “But I want you again,” she said breathily, shifting slightly against the warm body in her arms.

Korra’s head lifted, suddenly awake. “Well,” she said, blinking the last remnants of sleep from her eyes, “I guess I can make an exception, then.”

Asami matched Korra’s grin and leaned in for a kiss, but before things could get interesting, there was a knock at the door.

Asami went to pull away, but Korra held on to her. “Don’t you dare,” she murmured, and Asami laughed as she was dragged back in for another kiss.

“It could be important,” Asami protested half-heartedly as Korra’s lips worked their way down her throat.

“It can wait.”

As much as Asami wanted to ignore it, the knocking continued with dogged persistence, and Korra was finally forced to acknowledge it. Muttering curses under her breath, she dragged herself up, dragging a blanket with her and wrapping herself in it before she answered the door.

It was Tonraq.

Asami, mortified, immediately tried to duck beneath the covers, but she knew that she’d been spotted.

“It’s almost noon,” Tonraq said. Asami could’ve sworn she heard the faintest trace of amusement in his voice. “I thought you might want to see your mother. She’s coherent, but might not be for long.”

A guilty pang spiked through Asami’s stomach as she remembered everything else that had happened since they’d arrived.

“Yeah, okay,” Korra said. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Tonraq nodded, and Korra closed the door.

“I’m so sorry,” Asami blurted immediately, pushing herself up. “I didn’t mean to keep you or distract you or – ”

She was cut off as Korra crawled back onto the bed and stole her lips in a long kiss. “Don’t you dare apologise for anything you did last night,” she murmured, and Asami could feel her grin. “Or for anything you were about to do just now,” she added before Asami could respond.

Still, Asami felt guilty. “There are important things – _huge_ things! – going on in your life and I kept you all to myself,” she said. “That just… doesn’t seem okay.”

“You kept me distracted for a while,” Korra pointed out. “I appreciate that. And, you know… the method of distraction, too.”

Asami rolled her eyes, planting her hand right over Korra’s smug grin and pushing her back onto the bed.

Though Korra laughed, there was a certain stiffness to her movements as she got back up and started to dress. “Should I stay here?” Asami asked.

Korra’s lips pursed thoughtfully. “Maybe,” she admitted, regret evident in her voice. “It’s not that I don’t want you there, just…”

“It’s fine,” Asami said. “I understand.”

Korra’s smile was grateful as she leaned in for one more kiss. “Thanks. I’ll see you later.” And with that she was gone.

Asami lay in bed for a few moments longer, staring wistfully at the ceiling, before forcing herself to get up. She desperately wanted to bathe, but wasn’t really sure how that worked in the south – a ridiculous notion, she thought, but nevertheless true – and so she got dressed and made her way out of Korra’s room.

Bolin was already up, and Opal was back. They were sitting in the living room talking quietly when Asami entered.

“Morning, Asami!” Bolin chirped when he caught sight of her.

“Morning,” Asami said, dropping down into a free chair. “Sleep well?”

“Oh, uh, yeah! Fine,” Bolin said, and Asami caught the slightest tinge of pink in his cheeks as he did his best not to meet her eyes. “Um… you?”

Asami glanced at Opal, who had tried to subtly cover her smile with her hand. She closed her eyes, dropping her face into her hands. “You heard.”

Opal laughed and Bolin floundered, doing his best to explain himself. “It wasn’t that I was _trying_ to listen! I tried to block it out with my pillow!”

“Kind of hard to muffle the house shaking,” Opal giggled.

Asami’s head snapped up. “ _What_?”

“It wasn’t _shaking_ ," Bolin said, casting Opal an indignant look. “It was just… trembling a little.” His cheeks were burning bright red now, and Asami’s weren’t much different.

“You’ve already been talking about this, then,” Asami said. Though her tone wasn’t in any way accusatory, Opal and Bolin both looked guilty.

“Opal just… mentioned that I look tired when she got here,” Bolin said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. “She made a joke about being kept up by the happy couple, and I’m really bad at acting natural, okay?”

Asami actually managed to laugh. “I love you, Bolin, but you definitely aren’t wrong about that.”

“Forgive me for asking,” Opal said, averting her gaze in the first sign of embarrassment she’d shown so far, “but have you bathed?”

Asami’s nose wrinkled. “Is it that obvious?”

Opal laughed. “No, but Korra left so abruptly, I wasn’t sure if she’d thought to mention it to you. Come on, I’ll show you to the bath house.”

 

Apparently, the people of the south weren’t terribly concerned with such things as ‘privacy’. The bath house was all one room, and Opal had had to explain to the pair of furiously blushing northerners that it was perfectly acceptable here for men and women to bathe in the same room.

After an exceedingly uncomfortable bath – for Asami and Bolin, at least – they made their way back to Korra’s tent so that Asami could get properly dressed.

“I actually had a reason for coming over this morning,” Opal said once they were all satisfied with their presentation. “I thought the two of you might like to visit my family’s home.”

“Isn’t that a bit of a trip?” Bolin asked.

“Not really, no. My mother spends most of her time with Tonraq, but my father prefers to stay home to work, and home is about a half hour away, on snowmobiles.”

“What about – ” Asami started.

“I thought Korra would be here too,” Opal said with a knowing smile, “but I think she might like to spend a bit more time with her mother.”

Asami flushed at the thought that she might be coming across as selfish. “I didn’t mean… I just…”

“It’s fine,” Opal laughed. “I promise you, you won’t have any trouble from my family. In fact, once my mother caught wind of your arrival, she almost insisted. She even came back home to meet you properly.”

Even so, Asami felt uncomfortable at the prospect. Two of Opal’s brothers had died in the war – wouldn’t anybody there think to blame her for that?

But Bolin seemed delighted by the idea, and she hadn’t the heart to say no.

 

To Asami’s surprise, there was actually a welcoming party waiting for them when they arrived.

She immediately recognised Suyin from Air Temple Island as the woman approached, and felt an irrational little pang of fear, as if the woman’s warm, friendly smile were some kind of threat. Almost immediately, she felt like a paranoid idiot – especially when Suyin swept her up in a warm, welcoming hug. “Asami, dear,” she said, “it’s so nice to see you again.”

Asami was unable to hide her rather skeptical look, and Suyin laughed. “I know, it sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?”

“A little,” Asami admitted.

“I genuinely enjoyed meeting you on Air Temple Island,” Suyin said as two surly young men moved to help Opal and Bolin with the snowmobiles. “It was very brave of you to go alone, without your father’s permission.”

“I should’ve known he’d find out,” Asami sighed. “Trust him to scream Air Temple Island down right in front of the monks.”

Suyin laughed. “If nothing else, it made for a wonderful show.”

“I’m glad one of us enjoyed it,” Asami said, unable to suppress her smile. Suyin had a warm air about her and a contagious laugh – Asami liked her already.

“I almost wish I’d been there to see it,” Opal said, approaching with Bolin and the two young men who had been waiting with Suyin.

“You really don’t,” Bolin said, giving a somewhat melodramatic shudder. “Hiroshi Sato is scary enough when he’s in a good mood – you _really_ don’t want to see him when he’s mad.”

Asami rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

“Asami, these are my brothers, Bataar Junior and Huon,” Opal said, gesturing to the two strangers standing with her. 

The two barely looked at her as they mumbled their greeting, and Asami was once again reminded of their deceased twin brothers. A sharp pang of guilt shot through her, and though she greeted them warmly, she didn’t particularly blame them for being a little short with her.

Suyin, however, wasn’t quite so forgiving.

“You two better show a little more courtesy,” she said sharply. “Asami is going to be a part of things around here whether you like it or not. She’ll be part of the family.”

Asami flushed a little. “Su, it’s fine – ”

But Suyin held a hand up to silence her. “I won’t have my own sons acting rude to anyone, letalone Korra’s fiancée,” she continued. “The both of you will greet her properly, please.”

Looking thoroughly shamefaced, Bataar Junior and Huon each greeted her with considerably more grace. Asami still didn’t blame them for needing encouragement – after everything that had happened, she was surprised that more people hadn’t had the same reaction to her. “It’s very nice to meet you both,” she said once they were done.

“Can we go now?” Huon asked sulkily. Suyin gave him a piercing look, but eventually nodded.

“Sorry about them,” Opal said, clearly embarrassed. “They have some… _strong_ opinions about the north.”

“I understand,” Asami said. “It’s very much the same back home.”

“What, even northerners hate northerners?”

They all turned, and Asami failed to stifle her grin at the sight of Korra sauntering towards them.

“You didn’t really think you could kidnap the princess without my noticing, did you, Opal?” Korra asked teasingly. “For shame.”

Opal snapped her fingers. “Curses! Foiled again!”

Suyin, however, regarded Korra with a concerned expression. Something seemed to pass between them, and Suyin apparently decided against asking whatever it was she wanted to ask. “A tour, then?” she offered, turning that warm smile back onto Asami.

Accepting Korra’s offered arm, Asami followed Suyin toward the house.

 

The Beifong house was, in a word, impressive.

As they walked the cavernous halls, Suyin explained that her husband, Bataar, had designed the place himself, and was almost constantly working on ways to improve this or alter that, even if everything seemed to be perfectly fine as it was.

“He’s irrepressible,” she said wearily. “The only way to keep him from fiddling with my house is to set him to work on other projects.” 

The day was spent in good humour, but all the while, Asami kept a watchful eye on Korra. The southerner’s humour was a little forced – she did a good job of hiding it, but Asami was sure she wasn’t the only one who knew that something was wrong.

It was only when a messenger arrived, searching for Korra, that their fears were confirmed.

Wordlessly, the grim-looking man passed Korra a small, folded note. Korra snatched it from him, fumbling a little in her rush to open it, and all the colour seemed to drain from her face.

“We need to go,” she said. “Now.”

Suyin didn’t argue. As if she’d suspected a hasty departure, their snowmobiles were already outside waiting for them, and they were back in Katara’s small village within half an hour.

When Korra made for the healing hut, Asami automatically hung back, preparing to see to their vehicles. She was surprised when Korra doubled back to grab her hand.  
“Come with me,” she said. “Please.”

Asami had an awful feeling she knew what was happening, and wasn’t sure she really belonged in such an intimate environment with Korra’s family. But the desperation in the southerner’s eyes won over any argument she could possibly have summoned.

“Alright,” she agreed, and Korra gave her hand a squeeze before leading her to the hut.

Inside, it was almost uncomfortably warm. Braziers burned in the corners of the room, adding to the heat from the pool in which Senna lay submerged. Tonraq and Katara were both there, but other than that, the place was empty.

“Korra,” Tonraq greeted his daughter, his deep voice softer than usual. He glanced at Asami, and, to her surprise, offered a nod of greeting. She reciprocated with a small, sympathetic smile.

“What’s happening?” Korra asked, her voice strained.

Tonraq glanced back toward his wife. “She wants to speak with you,” he said.

“Why?” Korra asked immediately, and a small, wan laugh came from the pool.

“Such suspicion,” Senna said weakly. “Can’t a mother want a word with her daughter?”

“Not under the circumstances,” Korra said, weakly joking.

“We’ll give you some peace,” Katara said, glancing at Tonraq. The two left without another word.

“Come here, Korra.”

Reluctantly, Korra moved over to the pool, pulling Asami gently along with her.

“Is this…?”

Korra’s grip tightened on Asami’s hand. “Yeah. This is Asami.”

“The Princess of the Reach,” Senna said, though she was smiling as she looked up at Asami. “I can’t say I ever saw this coming.”

Asami smiled back. “I don’t think any of us did,” she said, and Senna laughed, the sound quickly devolving into a harsh cough.

“Be honest with me,” Senna said, looking meaningfully between the two of them. “Is this for real, or is it purely political?”

“Well…” Korra and Asami exchanged a glance, both of them blushing.

Senna caught the look and smiled. “It’s for real, then.”

“It was political at first,” Korra said. “But then things just… happened.”

“Good.” Asami was a little surprised by the firmness of Senna’s voice. “I know how passionately you feel about stopping this war, Korra. I was just worried… I didn’t want you to sacrifice your happiness for it.”

“I would’ve, if it had come to that,” Korra said, frowning. “One person’s happiness isn’t worth the lives this war is costing.”

The look that Senna gave her daughter was overwhelmingly proud. “You’ll do well by them, Korra,” she said. “I always knew you would.”

Korra frowned, dropping to kneel beside the pool. “Stop talking like you’re never going to see me again,” she said, trying again for a light tone, but failing to keep a tremor of fear from her voice.

Senna smiled softly, but didn’t respond. Instead, she turned her gaze to Asami. “I’ve heard some interesting things about you.”

Asami flushed. “Good things, I hope.”

“Oh, yes. Brave, selfless Asami Sato, venturing to Air Temple Island without her father’s knowledge to make peace behind his back.”

“When you put it like that, it doesn’t sound so great,” Asami said.

Senna chuckled softly. “On the contrary. It takes a great deal of strength to stand up to a parent – but we aren’t always right, and sometimes it’s up to our children to point that out.” She looked between the two of them. “Okay,” she sighed, “time for serious talk. I want the both of you to be very, very careful.”

“We have been,” Korra started to protest, but Senna interrupted.

“I don’t mean temporarily. I mean long-term. It’s highly unlikely that everybody will be on-board with this peace, but it could take generations for them to come around – meaning you will need to keep working at it, and teach your children to keep working at it, or it will all have been for nothing.”

Asami swallowed. She’d always known that it would be hard work, but Senna was making it sound almost impossible.

“Not to scare you,” Senna added warmly. “I just want the both of you to be aware of exactly what it is you’ve gotten yourselves into.”

“We are,” Korra said firmly.

Senna nodded, her eyelids drooping. “Good.” She stilled for a moment before opening her eyes again. “Did I ever say congratulations?”

Korra laughed softly. “No, you didn’t.”

“How rude of me. Congratulations, darling. I’m very happy for you.”

Korra glanced over to Asami, smiling softly. Asami returned the expression, holding the southerner’s gaze for a moment before turning back to Senna.

Her eyes had fallen closed. For a second, Asami assumed she was just resting, but then –

“…mom?” Korra reached out to touch Senna’s forehead, then gently shook her shoulder.

Senna didn’t respond.

As realisation crashed over her, Asami was only distantly aware of Korra’s voice rising, her efforts to wake her mother redoubling. She reached out to touch her fiancée’s arm. “Korra…”

Alerted by the noise, Tonraq and Katara burst in. One look told them all they needed to know, and while Katara carefully draped a blanket over the pool, Tonraq grabbed his wailing, struggling daughter by the waist and dragged her gently away.


	16. Chapter 16

The funeral was held a day later.

Asami barely remembered the day that stood between that awful night and the equally as awful ceremony that followed. It was a blur of rushing around, helping Korra and Tonraq make preparations, writing invitations, and, every couple of hours, disappearing with Korra to let the southerner cry.

Korra’s strength through the whole ordeal was staggering. Sure, at regular intervals she would wordlessly stand up and grab Asami’s hand, pull her into a quiet, private spot, press her face against Asami’s neck and weep – but once that wave of emotion passed, she would wipe her face, run her hands through her hair, and jump right back into it. Asami knew for a fact that she would never be so driven in the face of such grief – when her mother had died, she had all but retreated into her room for the better part of two months, refusing to emerge except for the funeral.

Bolin was an absolute treasure through the whole day. While he did his best to be inconspicuous, he abruptly lost any trace of uncertainty when he was asked to do something – and eventually, Tonraq all but kept Bolin at his side after he found that the cheery northerner was almost aggressively reliable when things needed to be done. Whether it was running an errand to the other side of town or helping to get people settled into temporary accommodation, Bolin was more than happy to help.

Asami was admittedly surprised by just how many people turned up in such a short space of time. The small town suddenly grew to roughly four times its original size, spreading like a blossoming flower by the hastily erected tents around the outskirts of town.

The funeral itself was to be held in the open central square, with Senna in the very centre of rows upon rows of seats. Asami was surprised by just how many people it seemed the small town could accommodate in one place.

“Did a lot of people know Senna?” Asami asked of Katara as she helped the elderly woman decorate the table that Senna would be resting upon with beautiful white and blue flowers that, admittedly, she was surprised could even grow out here in the biting cold.

“She _was_ the wife of the chief,” Katara said. “Korra’s family have considerable influence.”

“Of course,” Asami said. “I didn’t mean – ”

“I know, child,” Katara smiled. She paused a moment, her stunningly blue eyes flickering over to where Korra was helping Tonraq arrange wooden chairs in tidy rows surrounding the table. “How is Korra doing?”

Asami followed the elder’s look. At a glance, Korra seemed okay – her arms hung a little limper than usual and her eyes were shadowed, but she worked in earnest, just as hard as her father.

“I think she’s trying not to think about it,” Asami said. “Throwing herself into the work to keep her mind occupied, you know? But she can only manage for a few hours at a time.”

Katara nodded gravely. “I’ve noticed the two of you disappearing every so often.”

“She’s being very strong,” Asami said. “Stronger than I could have imagined.”

“She has to be,” Katara said. “She’s a leader. She can grieve as much as she likes in private, but for the sake of her people, both she and her father need to be strong – in appearances, at least.”

“Especially in wartime,” Asami said softly.

Katara gave her a somewhat surprised look, before her expression became thoughtful. “You know,” she said, “this war has been going on since before I was born – since before even my parents were born. It’s a deeply ingrained part of our life now.”

Asami nodded.

“It’s rare to meet someone who realises that this isn’t what life is supposed to be like. Particularly someone as young as yourself.”

Asami’s brow furrowed as she looked down at her work. “I know a lot of people who feel it needs to stop,” she said, “but even more who can’t even imagine a world without war. Soldiers, especially. War has been a part of their family’s lives for so long… it’s basically a culture now.”

“And then there are those who don’t want to see it end,” Katara said, and Asami thought she picked up a dark hint of anger in the old woman’s voice. “Those who thrive on it.”

Asami’s thoughts turned to Varrick and her father, and she grimly agreed.

“May I ask you something, Asami?”

“Of course.”

“Is Hiroshi really as bloodthirsty as the rumours say?”

Asami frowned a little. ‘Bloodthirsty’, when it first hit her ears, sounded a little harsh – but she ultimately had to concede that it wasn’t too far off the mark. “He’s… vengeful,” she said eventually. “He’s my father and I love him, but… ever since my mother died, he’s been able to think of very little else. He doesn’t seem to understand that genocide isn’t justice – just murder.”

Katara nodded. “That makes sense.” She glanced over at Tonraq, who had stopped working for a moment and just stood, staring at his own gently trembling hands. “This is the first time Korra’s family have suffered a loss so close to them,” she said softly. “They’ve felt the losses of their friends, but never from within their own family.”

“Korra’s not vengeful,” Asami said, though she thought back to how Korra had responded to the deaths of Wing and Wei and surprised herself with her own uncertainty.

“Perhaps not,” Katara agreed solemnly, still watching Tonraq. “Even so… I would advise caution.”

Asami was getting a little tired of people telling her to be careful, as if she hadn’t managed to figure that out on her own – but when she looked at Tonraq, quite suddenly, she saw Hiroshi standing there, still trying to convince himself that he would never see his wife again.

“I’ll be careful,” she promised for what felt like the thousandth time. “Both of us will.”

 

Finally – or perhaps too soon – the day of the ceremony dawned.

Korra woke Asami early. Asami felt a pang of guilt as she looked upon the southerner in the early morning gloom – it didn’t seem as if she’d had much sleep.

“I’ll be fine,” Korra said, apparently catching Asami’s concern as it flickered across her face. “I just need today to be over with.”

They took their time getting ready. Korra got into her outfit – a modest, fur-lined piece in the deepest shade of blue Asami had ever seen – without much hassle, but her arms trembled as she reached up to deal with her hair.

Asami was behind her in a heartbeat. “Let me,” she said, and Korra’s arms fell to her sides without protest.

There wasn’t a lot that could really be done with Korra’s hair – it was too short to tie up, but wearing it loose seemed a trifle undignified. After gently brushing out the kinks, Asami settled with stringing some of the same flowers that Senna would rest upon for the ceremony through it, pinning Korra’s fringe back from her face.

“Thanks,” Korra said when Asami was done. “It’s nice.”

“I’m glad you like it.” Asami’s smile was small, but she did her best to make it warm.

Korra’s answering smile was wan, fleeting, as her hands dropped to Asami’s hips and she leaned her forehead against the taller woman’s own, eyes closing. “You look nice too,” she said after a few long moments of silence. “Blue suits you.”

Asami had felt it only appropriate to also don the deep, almost black shade of blue that was, apparently, the colour of mourning in the south. “Who knew, right?” she said softly, still smiling that same sad smile as she reached up to tuck Korra’s hair behind an ear.

Korra’s fingers gave a weak squeeze against Asami’s hips before falling away. “We should go. Don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”

 

As hard as they’d tried to get as many seats into the square as possible, a good half of the gathered mourners were left to stand during the ceremony. Asami felt a little guilty as she and Bolin took up seats in the very centre circle; as it was, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they didn’t really belong here, and from some of the looks she caught being thrown her way, she wasn’t the only one who thought so.

“It’s okay.” Asami started slightly when Tonraq’s rumbling voice sounded so close; for someone so huge, he’d taken a seat beside her in total silence. “They don’t really understand yet.”

“I can’t really blame them for being suspicious,” Asami returned softly.

Tonraq shrugged. “You’re right. We’ll make sure nothing happens to you, though.” With that he got up and joined Korra, who was standing with her back to Asami, staring mutely down at Senna’s peaceful face.

“This _sucks_ ,” Bolin said, his voice strangled, and Asami turned to look at him. She wasn’t entirely surprised that he was already crying; she felt like crying too, especially with memories of her own mother’s funeral flooding back to her. She remembered being profoundly grateful for Mako’s quiet strength that day, and so she wanted to keep it together for Korra, be something strong and steady for the southerner to anchor herself to just as she’d anchored herself to Mako.

“I know,” Asami said, taking his big hand in hers and giving a squeeze. “But things like this are why we’re here. We’re going to stop it from happening again.”

“I just wish we’d gotten here sooner,” Bolin said, sniffling as he wiped his tears away with the back of his free hand. “Before this point, I mean. We could’ve avoided this.”

As he spoke, Asami felt eyes on her and she looked up, immediately finding the source of the feeling. A tall, slim woman was standing with the rest of the crowd, and she was staring at Asami, expressionless. Asami did her best to keep her own expression neutral as she mentally mapped the woman’s features – though identifying her wouldn’t be too difficult, what with the stylized eye-shaped tattoo on her forehead.

Forcing herself to look away, she turned her attention back to Bolin, who had pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his still-streaming eyes. “Should’ve brought two,” he murmured thickly.

The ceremony wasn’t all that long, but it felt it. First, Tonraq stood up to speak, his strong voice only wavering a little as he spoke of how he’d first met Senna, recounting his fondest memories with her. Asami struggled to hold back her tears, one hand clasping Bolin’s, the other squeezing Korra’s knee, only releasing its hold when it was Korra’s turn to get up and speak.

Bolin was all but sobbing by the time this happened, and when Tonraq took up Korra’s vacated seat, Asami quietly placed a hand on his arm. His expression was surprised when he looked at her, tears swimming in his eyes, but the corners of his lips twitched with the fleeting ghost of a smile and he dipped his head in a small, appreciative nod.

As much as she wanted to hang from Korra’s every word, Asami found herself distracted when she spotted the tattooed woman again, who appeared to have moved to deliberately put herself in Asami’s line of sight. Asami didn’t let herself look directly at her, but watched her from her periphery. There was something undeniably fishy about the woman – several somethings, in fact – and Asami wanted to keep tabs on her without alerting her to what she was doing.

Somewhere during Korra’s speech, however, the woman disappeared, and Asami mentally kicked herself for losing sight of her. She didn’t have much time to punish herself, though; Korra finished speaking, and she felt Tonraq rise again as he moved to thank everyone for attending and invited them to stay for as long as they pleased.

Korra’s eyes were deeply shadowed as she made her way back over to Asami and sat down, leaning heavily against the northerner. “That was hard,” she said softly.

Asami’s attention was on Korra immediately, an arm wrapping around the woman’s muscular shoulders and giving a squeeze. “I know,” she said softly. “But you did well.”

Korra flashed a grateful, albeit weary, smile up at her. “I feel like sleeping for fifty years,” she said then, head dropping to Asami’s shoulder and eyes falling closed.

Asami pressed a lingering kiss to Korra’s head, closing her eyes as the scent of the woman’s hair and the flowers woven through it filled her nose. “Do you want to go inside?”

“Maybe just for a minute,” Korra agreed.

As they stood up, Bolin following suit and mumbling something about a fresh handkerchief, Asami caught sight of the tattooed woman again. She appeared to be leaving, and Asami was struck with the need to follow her – but she hesitated for a second, Korra’s weight leaning against her making her want to stay.

“Korra,” she said, and Korra’s head snapped up at the seriousness of Asami’s tone. “I need to do something quickly. Will you be okay with Bolin?”

“What’s wrong?” Korra asked, almost before Asami had finished asking.

“I don’t know yet,” Asami said. “I’ll let you know. I’m sorry, I’ll be right back.” She gently untangled herself from Korra’s arms and darted away into the crowd, eyes trained intently on the thick black plait that the tattooed woman wore.

She was making her way out of the square, and Asami probably should have been more suspicious that she wasn’t hanging around to speak – with anybody – but she knew that she had to follow. When the woman turned her head slightly, casting a surreptitious glance over her shoulder, Asami could’ve sworn she saw a smirk before she broke into a run, taking off toward the woods.

Asami instantly took off after her, despite every instinct screaming at her not to. She seemed to know the area well, picking her way expertly through the undergrowth and weaving around obstacles like she knew they were coming, trying to shake Asami off.

But Asami was too fast, never letting the fleeing woman out of her sight. She was so focused on trying to keep up with her, though, that she was taken completely off-guard when the woman suddenly stopped, swinging a leg around toward Asami’s head. It connected, hard, and Asami went down, but only for a moment; she was surprised by how quickly she rolled back to her feet, given her slight dizziness from the blow, but she didn’t have time to think about it.

The woman was coming at her again, lightning quick, and she brought her arms up to deflect the blows aimed at her face. Again and again she had to act quickly to defend herself, but the woman was astoundingly fast; she took several hits despite her best efforts, never going down again, but stumbling a little, sharp eyes watching for a chance, any chance…

It happened so fast that Asami barely had time to take advantage of it; the slightest opening in the woman’s defenses, so slight she almost missed it, but thankfully that initial blow to the head hadn’t entirely knocked her senseless. She didn’t waste time thinking, just reacted; her palm slammed hard against the woman’s chest and threw her off-balance, giving Asami enough time to take the offensive. She was merciless; she was _angry_ , and it showed in the force of her blows, the relentless, impossible speed of each strike.

Finally, the woman was knocked off her feet, and Asami dropped her knee into the woman’s stomach, hard. “Who are you?” she demanded as the stranger gasped for breath.

She didn’t get her answer; a call from somewhere further back, her name – Bolin? – distracted her for long enough to let the woman swing a leg up, knee connecting with Asami’s jaw. She lurched back, swearing, and then the woman was on her feet again, fleeing.

“Shit,” she hissed, rubbing a hand over her jaw as she scrambled up to give chase, ignoring Bolin calling out behind her.

The woman was almost as good at fleeing as she was at fighting, but she relied heavily on her surroundings, and she must have been distracted, not watching where she was going, because the trees were thinning out and she was running out of terrain to use to her advantage. Asami caught sight of a fallen tree a little way ahead of them – two in fact, one leaning over top of the other – and while the woman slid beneath the lower of the two, Asami made for the other, running as fast as she could; her lungs burned, her muscles screamed, but she pushed and pushed, finally reaching the end of the log and launching herself from the end of it.

Her aim was true, and she outstretched her legs as she sailed down toward her target, clamping them tight around the woman’s neck as her momentum carried her forward and pulled her prey with her. She hit the ground and rolled, releasing her hold to throw the woman forward with all her strength, and took no small amount of pleasure in watching the woman crash hard against the trunk of a tree and slump to the ground, dazed.

Asami was back on her feet almost before the tattooed woman had hit the ground, and she stalked over, seizing her by the collar of her jacket and picking her up to slam her back against the tree. “Who are you?” she demanded again. “What do you want?”

Though a little cross-eyed, the woman grinned, managing to focus on Asami’s face. “Want?” she echoed, struggling for a moment against Asami’s iron grip. “We just want a payday, your highness.”

Asami’s lips pressed into a thin line and she dragged the woman forward, only to slam her back again, making sure her head connected this time. The woman cried out, but then she was laughing. _Laughing_. The sound was so unexpected that for a fleeting moment Asami wondered who else was there with them.

“Do what you want with me,” the woman spat. “You’re too late, anyway.”

“It was you, wasn’t it,” Asami growled. “You poisoned Senna.”

A grin spread across the woman’s angular features. “Don’t take it personally, princess,” she said, a hysterical chuckle escaping. “The Red Lotus always fulfills its contracts.”

Asami’s eyes widened, but before she could ask another question, she was being pulled away and the woman was being knocked clean off her feet by a dark fist.

“Who hired you?” Korra all but screamed, dragging the woman up again as Asami had done not minutes before. “Who?”

The woman only laughed, and that earned her another punch to the face. This time, Korra didn’t pull her up, but dropped down instead, straddling the assassin’s stomach as she rained blow after blow down on her, each hit punctuated by a word. “Who – hired – you – you – piece – of – ”

“Korra!” Asami exclaimed, and then Bolin was there and they both grabbed the raging southerner, pulling her away before she could kill the woman.

“Let me go!” Korra barked, straining against their hold. She was enormously strong; Asami wasn’t exactly weak, but she was having a hard time holding her back. Even Bolin seemed to be struggling.

“She can’t talk if she’s dead, Korra!” Asami said, her feet slipping a little in the soft snow.

Slowly, Korra stopped struggling and slumped against Asami, panting heavily around sobs that seemed to tear their way out of her throat. Bolin immediately ran over to check on the assassin.

“She’s alive,” he reported, “barely.”

“Go and get Tonraq,” Asami said. Bolin was up in an instant, unquestioning, and running back toward the town as fast as his feet would carry him.

“I knew it,” Korra was saying, her legs slowly giving way beneath her. Asami didn’t try to keep her upright, instead sinking down with her until they were both kneeling in the snow, Korra’s hands fumbling to grasp the material of Asami’s shirt. “I knew she wasn’t just sick, I knew…”

There was movement then and Asami’s eyes snapped up just in time to see the assassin draw a flare gun from inside her jacket. She met Asami’s gaze, grinned ghoulishly with bloodstained teeth, and fired up into the air.

Asami watched the signal rise above the trees with a furrowed brow. What –

It was only when a horn sounded in the distance, a booming, chillingly familiar sound, that Asami realised what had happened.

“They’re here,” she said, her blood running cold. “The North. They’re attacking.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shit is gettin' serious y'all


	17. Chapter 17

When Bolin returned with Tonraq, Asami wasted no time explaining the situation to him. Grimly, he checked to make sure the assassin was still alive, then hoisted her up, slinging her over a massive shoulder.

“Run,” he said. “Back to town. Go!”

Asami pulled a distraught Korra to her feet and obeyed without question, running as fast as she could, Bolin ahead of them and Tonraq behind.

Her mind was racing. How had Hiroshi mobilized so damn fast? They’d only been in the south for a couple of days! And the Red Lotus? She was _kicking_ herself for not seeing through them. Posing as a bunch of melodramatic pai sho enthusiasts was a genius move, but she’d been right there – _right there_ , staring down Senna’s killers, and she’d had no idea. The thought had her steaming, her stomach churning with guilt.

Beside her, Korra was struggling to subdue her emotions, but she was keeping pace without difficulty, her breath coming in ragged pants around barely stifled sobs. Asami desperately wanted to reassure her, tell her everything would be okay, that they’d make it right, but she couldn’t bring herself to make promises that she wasn’t sure she could keep.

The town was in a panic when they got back, and even though Asami could practically taste the confusion and fear in the air, everybody was moving with purpose, whether they were fleeing or barricading or producing weapons from spirits knew where – they were used to this. This was their life, and Asami’s heart ached seeing it unfold around her.

Tonraq handed the unconscious assassin over to one of his guards. “Lock her up somewhere safe,” he said, not bothering with an explanation. The guard didn’t ask for one, snapping a salute before hefting her over his shoulder and disappearing.

“Asami,” Tonraq said then, turning to face her. “How likely do you think your own soldiers are to attack you?”

Asami blinked at him, and before she could answer, Korra was there.

“Absolutely fucking not.”

“Korra – ”

“You are _not_ sending my fiancée out to face down an army!” Korra barked. “Are you insane?”

“Engaging them would be playing right into their hands,” Asami said, clenching her fists to conceal the trembling of her hands. “My father _wants_ this, Korra. He wants to fight, he wants to kill. I’m the only person in the world right now who might be able to stop him – or slow him, at least.”

“I can go too,” Bolin piped up from behind them. “I might know a few of the soldiers. I have friends serving.”

But Korra was shaking her head. “No, no fucking way, this isn’t going to happen, there’s got to be something else – ”

“Well then what do you suggest, Korra?” Tonraq snapped. “Because I’m at a loss! Even if we did engage them, I’ve no doubt that Hiroshi has brought along his whole damned arsenal! This isn’t a skirmish or a warning – this is an extermination!”

Even though it drove a knife right into Asami’s heart to admit it, Tonraq was right. With everything that had been happening, there was very little chance that Hiroshi _didn’t_ intend this to be the battle that ended the war. Her father was hardly her father anymore; he was a killer, a mass murderer with less sanity than sense. But she was sure that he wouldn’t hurt her.

“It wouldn’t hurt to mobilize what troops you can,” Asami said, her stomach churning as she said it. There was very little chance that they’d be able to get enough firepower together in time, and she felt as if she was signing off on the death certificates of half the south. “Just in case. But don’t show yourselves – keep hidden, and don’t engage unless things look like they’re going badly.”

“Better idea,” Tonraq said, pressing something cold and heavy into Asami’s hands – the flare gun from the assassin. He must have removed it before handing her over to the guard. “Let us know if we need to engage. We’ll put our faith in you, Asami.” His stare was deathly serious, and Asami swallowed as she held it, unwavering, and nodded.

“I can’t fucking believe this,” Korra said then, and Asami turned to face her. “This is _suicide_ , you do realise that, don’t you?”

Tonraq looked like he was going to say something, but a slim soldier had come sprinting up to him, panting, and his attention turned to whatever the young man had to report.

“My father won’t hurt me, Korra,” Asami said, tucking the flare gun into the waist of her pants and pulling her jacket down over it. “And I wouldn’t be surprised if the soldiers are _scared_ of him at this point. They won’t hurt me, either.”

“But you don’t _know_ that!” Korra exploded. “Hiroshi could have gone completely off his nut and disowned you! They could mow you down as quickly as they would any southerner!”

“They could,” Asami said, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t try. It’s our only option, Korra.”

“It _can’t_ be,” Korra said, pleading. “Asami, please, I… I can’t…”

Asami reached out to grasp Korra’s face in both her hands, cutting her off with a long, fervent kiss. “You won’t,” she whispered against Korra’s lips.

Korra’s hands found her hips and gripped tightly. “At least let me come with you.”

“It’s too dangerous,” Asami said, and she hated every last syllable that left her mouth. “A rogue soldier might take it upon himself to shoot at you. At least with me, they’ll hesitate.” She desperately wished that Korra could be at her side when she stood off against an entire army of her countrymen, so much so that she felt physically ill at the prospect of leaving Korra behind, but she refused to put her in danger.

Korra was clearly struggling with it too. Her arms wrapped all the way around Asami’s waist and held her tightly, almost too tightly, and Asami embraced Korra just as hard. “I’ll be nearby,” Korra whispered, pressing her face into the crook of Asami’s neck so that Asami could only just hear her. “Hidden, but there. I’ll be there for you.”

Asami’s arms tightened as she fought back tears of borderline panic. “I love you,” she breathed, before forcing herself to break away, kissing Korra again.

Tonraq cleared his throat. “My men have snowmobiles ready for you and Bolin. I hate to rush you, but there’s not much time.”

Asami nodded, pausing to look at Korra once more before turning away, leaving before she could change her mind.

Tonraq led them at a run to where the snowmobiles were waiting, already running and still kitted out from whoever was using them last with packs and rope. The young man who had approached Tonraq earlier sat astride a third, waiting for them.

Asami and Bolin raced to their vehicles, swinging their legs over to straddle the padded seats. “My man here saw the army approaching,” Tonraq said. “He’ll show you the way.”  
The young soldier nodded to them, revving his engine.

“Good luck,” Tonraq said. “And stay safe.”

Asami was taken aback, and she couldn’t quite bring herself to smile, but she nodded. “I will.”

“Go.”

With that they kicked their engines into gear and took off, kicking up snow behind them in their haste.

The soldier was a talented driver, and though Asami had little trouble keeping up, Bolin lagged behind a little. Asami did her best to make sure he wasn’t falling too far behind, but if he did, there wasn’t much she could do. Time was too precious to wait for him; if she had to do this without him, she would.

It felt like hours later when the scout finally slowed. Thankfully, Bolin had managed to keep up at least a little, so they were only just starting to talk when he pulled up behind them.

“The army’s approaching across the plain past the edge of the woods,” the soldier said, pointing northwards. “What are you going to do?”

“Try to talk some sense into my idiot father,” Asami growled.

The soldier blinked. “So _you’re_ Asami Sato. Well, good luck. I’m no coward, but I wouldn’t want to be riding out there alone. I’ve never seen a force that big.”

Asami nodded and accepted the hand that he offered to her, shaking firmly. “Get back to Tonraq. He shouldn’t be far off.”

The soldier nodded, revving his engine again as he skidded around to race back the way they’d come.

“Ready for some big damn heroics?” Bolin asked, grinning tightly at her. He was scared; she couldn’t blame him.

“We seem to be involved in those a lot lately,” Asami said. “Come on.”

It wasn’t far to the edge of the woods, and Asami blinked in the sunlight as they broke out from the shelter of the trees onto the wide-spread plain on the other side. A thick black line on the horizon betrayed the location of the northern army; Asami swore as they raced toward it. She could spot more than just tanks and trucks; there were walkers too, and at least a dozen airships floating high overhead.

“That’s a lot of army, Asami,” Bolin called worriedly over the roaring of the engines, drawing up beside her. “You’re _sure_ they won’t attack us?”

“No,” Asami called back.

“Oh. Okay then!”

That black line grew thicker and thicker the nearer they drew, and the sound of Asami’s heart pounding in her ears was almost loud enough to drown out the snowmobiles’ engines. As she started to make out the vague shapes of people, she could see them hesitating in their march, heads turning, no doubt exchanging questions. Confusion. She could take advantage of that.

She gathered up her courage as she started to make out the faces of the soldiers in the frontline; then, when she could clearly see the curiosity and confusion on their faces, she brought the snowmobile to a skidding halt, barely waiting for it to fully stop before jumping up to stand on the seat and throw her hands out. “HALT!” she roared at the top of her voice.

It had the desired effect. The frontline faltered, unsure, and stopped marching, which had a ripple effect on the rest of the army – even the walkers, she was pleased to note. She wouldn’t have wanted anybody to get trodden on because of her.

Murmurs broke out among the soldiers, and she clearly heard her name among some of them. Stepping down from the vehicle, she strode up to them. “Where’s my father?” she demanded.

“Further back, in a walker,” one of the soldiers replied. “Miss Sato, is that you? Why are you – ”

“A walker?” Asami echoed, cutting her off. “He’s actually joining in the fray now?” She felt her blood run cold. So it wasn’t enough to just kill people from a distance anymore; Hiroshi had to start getting his hands dirty.

The soldier nodded, her back straightening with pride in her leader. Asami pitied her. “He’s leading us against the south for the last time, your highness,” she said. “He said you were kidnapped. How did you escape?”

“I didn’t,” she said, noticing out the corner of her eye that Bolin had approached one of the soldiers farther down the line. “I was never a prisoner. You’ve been lied to. I need you to go and get my father.”

“We can’t break formation,” another soldier protested. Asami turned to face him, eyes flashing.

“Oh, you can’t?” she asked, and by the look on his face, the soldier knew he’d fucked up. “You can’t break formation? You can’t do that but you can march all the way down here to slaughter an entire country because somebody told you to?”

“It’s our job, your highness,” he squeaked. “We’re supposed to rescue you.”

Her hands whipped forward almost before she could stop them and her fingers curled into the front of his uniform jacket, dragging him toward her. “Well as you can see,” she said quietly, her face inches from his, “I don’t need rescuing, so right this second, your job is to find my father and bring him to me. Understand?”

The soldier hesitated. “But… they – ”

“ _Now_!” Asami barked, and the soldier jumped so high that he almost lost his helmet.

“Yes ma’am!” he cried, turning to flee back into the ranks.

“The rest of you, just stay the fuck still until he gets here,” Asami snapped, before turning on her heel to stalk back to the snowmobiles.

Bolin returned as well. “I think that soldier’s going to need a change of pants,” he remarked.

“They’re _mindless_!” Asami snapped. “I thought our soldiers were smarter than to just blindly follow bad orders!”

“Soldiers are soldiers,” Bolin said carefully. “Their _only_ job is to blindly follow bad orders.”

“I’d hoped at least some of them would have the guts to stand up to a bad leader,” Asami fumed. “I guess I had too much faith in them.”

They weren’t waiting long for Hiroshi to appear. His walker came stomping through the crowd towards them, creating a wake of soldiers ahead of itself as men and women scrambled to avoid being stepped on.

“Asami!” Hiroshi’s voice barked out from the loudspeaker. “Get back to safety!”

Asami climbed back onto her snowmobile, staring hard at Hiroshi through the glass face of the walker. “No, father.”

“Now is not the time for your insubordination, Asami. Get. Back!”

“ _Insubordination_?” Asami echoed incredulously. “I’m not one of your mindless pawns, father. You can’t order me to do anything.”

“You are _my_ daughter!” Asami could practically see the spittle flying from her father’s mouth as he spat the words. “You _will_ do as you’re told!”

“Like a misbehaving child, father?” Asami slowly shook her head. “Turn around. Go home.”

“I can and will march this army right past you, Asami! You can’t stop me!”

“Go. Home.” Her voice rises; she’s not quite shouting, but she’s coming close. “I won’t let you wipe out an entire people for your petty revenge!”

There was a brief silence. “Then you leave me no choice,” Hiroshi said, and a chill ran through Asami at the cold detachment in his voice.

Then the arm of the walker was lifting, and she barely had time to dive out of the way as a bright beam of purple… something obliterated the vehicle she’d just been standing on.

“What the _fuck_ is that?” Asami barked, scrambling out of the way again as another beam was fired off at her. She couldn’t think about the fact that it was her father – her _father_! – who was shooting at her. It was too much, too devastating to think about right now; all she could do was dodge, weave, desperately try to keep from being killed by that blinding purple light.

Faintly, as if from very far away, she heard the sound of the remaining snowmobile revving hard; she tried to look, but didn’t have time before that damn purple beam was charging again, pointed right at her. As she hit the ground this time, the beam soaring over her head, she felt the flare gun dig into her stomach; fumbling, she dug it out and held it up, firing a shot directly at the walker’s face.

The walker reacted with Hiroshi’s instincts, raising its arm to ward off the blinding light, and started to stumble forward. “You’ve allied yourself with _them_ , Asami!” she heard Hiroshi screaming. “You are _not_ a Sato!” The arm rose again, the walker pounding its way toward her so fast she had no chance of getting out of the way.

Then Bolin was there, his snowmobile swinging around behind the machine and then in front, the length of rope in his hand winding rapidly around the walker’s legs as he somehow managed to steer the vehicle with his one free hand.

“Mr Sato, you are a horrible father!” he bellowed, the rope pulling taut. The walker froze as it tried to take another step, its leg unable to move forward, and it slowly, slowly, toppled forward into the snow.

Everything was silent; even the army at Hiroshi’s back seemed to hold its breath.

The pneumatic hiss of a pressurised door sliding open broke the silence, and Hiroshi dragged himself out of the walker, coughing and swearing.

Asami got to her feet and walked over to him, her heart breaking at the sight of her father lying in the snow, raging at her. His legs appeared to be broken, or at least badly damaged; he wasn’t getting up, just dragging himself through the snow by his arms. “Asami… help me…”

“Call them off.” Asami stared flatly down at him.

“Please… Asami, my legs…”

“Call them off.”

Hiroshi stared up at her, ostensibly helpless, before his expression hardened and he made a grab for her, screaming in frustration when she stepped out of the way.

“You _are_ a horrible father,” she said, her pain and sadness clear in her voice, before she matter-of-factly cracked the handle of the flare gun to the back of his head, knocking him out.

“Are you okay?” Bolin asked as he pulled up beside her.

“No,” Asami said, turning to the hesitant army behind its fallen leader. “Someone get me the next in charge!”

It wasn’t long before a young man she recognised as Iroh, one of her father’s most trusted generals, was being ushered forth from the bowels of the force. “Asami, what’s going on?”

“My father has suffered from a mental break,” she said coolly, more than a little impressed that her voice didn’t so much as waver. “He needs to be taken home. Along with everybody else.”

“So you weren’t kidnapped, then?”

Asami smiled wryly at him. “Do I look kidnapped?”

He returned the smile. “No, your highness, you don’t. Will you be joining us?”

“Not just yet. You’ll see me soon, though. I’m leaving you in charge until I can come home to sort out my father’s mess.”

He saluted sharply before turning and making his way back into the crowd, barking orders. A pair of soldiers hurried forward to collect Hiroshi’s limp form, dragging him back to start the long journey home.

“This still isn’t over, is it?” Bolin asked as Asami walked back to him.

She sighed heavily. “No, Bolin. It still isn’t over.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, just wanted to say a huge thanks for sticking it out with me this far! A quick note: I'm really, _aggressively_ aware that some things about the story seem a little rushed, and honestly, that's partly because it is, because I really want to finish it for all you beautiful people (two years is a long enough wait, lbr), and partly because the ending of the book that this story is based on also has a bit of a rushed quality to the ending. I do hope that you're still enjoying the story so far and continue to do so!

Asami had never seen a celebration quite like the one thrown that night.

It was a surreal experience; the air seemed to hang thick with sadness despite the cheering, the singing, the dancing – and, stranger still, Asami and Bolin found themselves the guests of honour.

Word had spread alarmingly fast about how Asami had stood up to Hiroshi and how she and Bolin had, between the two of them, pushed back the entire northern army. She heard about a dozen different versions of the tale being spun and wouldn’t be terribly surprised if the encounter went down in history as some kind of grand, noble duel between father and daughter.

Which, of course, would imply that anything about the fight had been fair or right. Hiroshi had _fired_ at her – tried to _kill_ her, his only daughter. Asami was still in shock, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to force a smile to the southerners practically lining up to meet, congratulate, and thank her.

The centre of town had been transformed from a funeral into a party; where Senna had previously been lying in the centre of the square, there was instead an enormous bonfire, its blazing tongues lashing hungrily toward the sky and its smoke hanging thick in the air. Asami, finally escaping the hoard of admirers, sat on one of the seats nearest the fire, nursing a cup of the strong, spiced ale favoured by the south. It wasn’t her first, and she had a sneaking suspicion, as she lifted it to take a long drink, that there would be a lot more to follow.

“For some reason, I never really thought you’d be a fan of that stuff.”

Asami smiled wanly as Korra sat down beside her. “Honestly, I’ll take what I can get right now.”

“I know the feeling.” Korra held a cup of her own and she stared down into it for a moment, swirling its contents around aimlessly. “How are you doing?”

Asami didn’t answer right away, staring into the fire for a few long moments. She _felt_ like she’d lost a parent, felt orphaned, but she didn’t want to say that – given the circumstances, it seemed wildly inconsiderate. “I feel like I should be asking you that question,” she said instead, glancing over at her fiancée.

Korra puffed out her cheeks before expelling the air in a heavy sigh. “I mean, right this second? I’ve had more than a few of these – ” She brandished her cup before taking another sip “ – so I’ll be okay for tonight, at least.”

Asami didn’t quite laugh, but she felt her lips form the slightest smile, and it felt good – like it was stretching out muscles that ached from frowning. She was starting to feel a little light-headed herself, but nowhere near where she wanted to be.

“I saw the whole thing, you know,” Korra said when Asami didn’t speak. “From the trees. Dad almost tried to stop me from going.”

“Yeah, you said.”

“I honestly never expected him to actually _attack_ you. Not him. An overzealous soldier, maybe, but not Hiroshi.”

Asami sighed heavily, draining the last half of her drink in one go. “You and me both.”

“Do you know what you’re going to do?”

Almost on cue, a young girl holding a large jug approached, offering to fill their drinks. They both accepted. “No,” Asami said as the girl left, running the pad of her thumb along the rim of her cup. It appeared to have been carved from the bone of some enormous animal; the craftsmanship was exquisite. “I should probably go home, but…”

“You don’t want to see him.”

Asami smiled wryly. “I don’t even want to be in the same _city_ as him.”

Korra hummed her understanding, leaning forward to rest her forearms against her thighs, her cup held in both hands between her knees. “This guy – Iroh, was it? – you think he can be trusted?”

“I know he can be. I’ve seen him face off with my father across the war table more than once – he’s a good man, knows right from wrong. Which is more than I can say for… others.”

“That’s good then. You can take your time going back, if you want.” Korra fell silent for a moment, but Asami didn’t think much of it; it wasn’t an awkward silence, and she found herself comforted by it.

When Korra finally straightened, opening her mouth to speak, she was interrupted before she could get a word out.

“Asami! Korra! Two of my favourite people!”

Asami glanced up to see Bolin staggering towards them, leaning heavily on poor, tiny Opal to keep his balance. Clearly, he’d had been enjoying the ale as well.

“Well if it isn’t the hero of the hour,” Korra said.

Bolin scoffed, waving a hand at her as if pushing her words away. “Me? Nah, I didn’t do much. Asami’s the _real_ hero.”

“You kind of did a _lot_ , Bo,” Asami said. “I would have been done for without you there.”

“Everyone’s talking about how you put your _life_ on the line for them,” Bolin slurred. “Hero!”

Opal gently guided Bolin into the seat on Korra’s other side. “Big damn heroics aside, how are you holding up?” she asked, glancing between them. “Both of you?”

Asami and Korra exchanged a glance, then shrugged in unison.

“Pretty stupid question, huh?” Opal smiled sympathetically.

Bolin hiccupped around a sudden sob, slinging an arm around Korra and pulling the southerner into a crushing hug. Asami couldn’t help but smile at Korra’s startled reaction, yelping and trying to pull away.

“I am _so_ sorry,” Bolin wailed, his hold unrelenting. “Is there anything I can do to help you feel better? Anything?”

“You could start by letting me go,” Korra said, her voice muffled against Bolin’s shirt.

“Oh,” Bolin said, and promptly released her. She swayed back toward Asami, sucking in deep breaths as if she’d been suffocating.

“Bolin, please try to refrain from smothering my bride-to-be,” Asami chastised teasingly, smiling at him – the first genuine smile she’d felt for days, fleeting though it may have been. “This is all going to be hard enough as it is without having to explain _that_ away.”

Bolin grinned sheepishly, holding up his hands as if to say ‘hands off, got it’.

Silence fell, an unusual occurrence where Bolin was involved – especially drunk Bolin. Finally, Korra slapped her hand to her thigh, the sound making Asami jump slightly even through the thick fabric of the southerner’s trousers. “Right,” she said, pausing to upend her still mostly full cup, draining it dry. “Is this a party or what?” She jumped up, holding her hand out to Asami. “I don’t remember the last time my dad went this crazy with the ale. Let’s make the most of it.”

Korra’s grin was infectious, though Asami could tell it was more than a little forced. Fake it ‘til you make it, right? Following suit, Asami drained her own cup, taking Korra’s hand and letting herself be pulled up.

“That’s the way,” Korra grinned. “Let’s show everyone how a heroic northern princess parties.”

 

As it turned out, heroic northern princesses partied _hard_ – particularly when they had the weight of the world to try and forget. 

The night passed in a blur. Asami lost count of how many times her cup was refilled somewhere after seven; even then, she couldn’t be sure if the count was accurate. She was fairly certain at least one of the southerners wandering around with jugs, refilling people’s cups, had been assigned to tail her specifically and do their best to refill her while she wasn’t looking.

When she’d take the time to think back on this night in the future, she’d only be treated to broken, fuzzy memories for her trouble: she’d recall Bolin carrying her around on his back, running in circles around the bonfire with Korra and Opal cheering them on; she’d recall competing with Korra to see who could neck their full cup the fastest; she’d recall dancing with Opal, laughing and playing, the heavy drum beats that punctuated the unfamiliar southern music seeming to grasp her hips with strong hands and guide her without much input from her own brain.

Most clearly, she’d recall losing herself in that rhythm, her cheeks flushed and movements loose and fluid from the drink, until the strong hands guiding her hips became Korra’s, the southerner’s body pressed flush against her back and smoothly moving along with her.

Asami was briefly reminded of the time they’d danced back home, but then dismissed the thought; this time was much, much different. For one thing, they weren’t surrounded by a hundred pairs of judging eyes; for another, they were both more than a little intoxicated, and the thought that only part of that was due to the ale made Asami’s stomach flip. She drew in an unsteady breath, reaching up to thread her fingers slowly through her own hair and pressing back against Korra as she swayed.

“You are so tempting.” Korra’s voice, low and thick and so close to her ear that she felt it more than heard it, made her jump a little.

Her eyelids fluttered, butterflies erupting in her stomach. “I’m just dancing,” she hummed coyly, unable to keep her lower lip from working its way between her teeth as her hands fell to settle over Korra’s.

Asami felt the southerner’s hands flex beneath hers, tightening their grip. “Then you clearly have no idea just how enticing your dancing is.” There was a low, husky quality to Korra’s voice that brought a shiver all the way up Asami’s spine, from the small of her back right up to her neck, making the tiny hairs there stand on end.

Asami felt the corner of her lips tug into rather a self-satisfied smirk. “Why Korra,” she said, forcing an air of innocent surprise, “whatever could you mean?”

Korra snorted, but Asami could tell that her act hadn’t been a _complete_ waste; Korra’s hips rolled, pressing fluidly, _suggestively_ , against Asami’s backside, drawing a small tone of approval from the northerner. “I mean, your highness, that you’re too fucking sexy for your own good.”

Asami practically purred her approval, reaching back to entwine slender fingers in Korra’s short, thick hair and giving a slight tug. Korra grunted, fingertips digging in harder against Asami’s hips before those strong hands were moving again, smoothing down over the curve of her hips to surreptitiously squeeze her backside before moving on. “See what I mean?” Korra rumbled into Asami’s ear. “We’re right out in public and I can barely keep my hands off of you.”

It was too good an opportunity to miss, so Asami reached out and grabbed it with both hands. Half-turning, she cast Korra a smouldering look from behind hooded eyes. “Then take me somewhere private and show me what you _really_ want to do.” Her voice was thick, she could hear it, and she wasn’t sure just how much of that was the ale and how much was the sheer, unbearable _need_ that Korra had ignited in her.

Korra met her gaze, unwavering, darkness clouding those stunning blue eyes. She let her hands fall, catching Asami’s hand and pulling her away from the fire and toward her home.

Asami only barely heard Bolin’s unsubtle “and there they go” and Opal’s answering “I honestly didn’t think they’d last this long”, and she ignored them both, unable to dredge up even an ounce of interest in anything but the muscular southerner leading her inside.

The house was dark, which would have made navigation difficult enough without Korra turning on her heel as soon as they were inside and grabbing Asami by the hips, dragging her close to seal their lips together in a heated kiss. Asami's breath escaped her in a somewhat shaky sigh, fingers curling into the material at Korra's collar to pull her still closer. Already, a rush of anticipation made goosebumps rise on her arms; given the state of things, she hadn't had all that much time to dwell on their first sexual encounter, but the way Korra was kissing her now seemed to open the floodgates, allowing all of those memories to come rushing back into her head and leave her more than a little dazed.

Blindly, refusing to pull away, Korra started to stumble back toward her bedroom, dragging an equally clumsy Asami along with her. Really, it was a miracle that they made it into Korra's room without suffering any injury, but that thought only managed to push through for a fleeting second before it was drowned out by Korra: her lips, commanding the kiss, hungry and eager, but controlled and sure; her hands, pushing Asami back against the door to both close it and pin the northerner there, strong fingers digging into Asami's hips just above the line of her pants; her body, pressing flush against Asami's, a thigh slipping between Asami's legs and _pressing_.

Asami's lips broke away from Korra's, falling open around a rasping gasp. The southerner responded immediately, rolling her body in a way that brought her thigh grinding up hard against Asami, but even that only offered a fleeting moment's reprieve from the building tension in Asami's gut and she was unable to keep her hips from bucking, desperately searching for more of that friction. She was only dimly aware, through the haze of lust and drink, of her head hitting the door as it fell back, and then Korra's lips were at her throat, teeth grazing roughly over her pulse point and tongue soothing the spot a moment later.

"Korra..." Her own voice sounded distant, reverberating somehow, like hearing a sound underwater; ethereal and echoing. Korra's only response was a low, quiet moan against her skin, and for a second Asami wondered if Korra planned on fucking her right there, against the door. The thought sent a white-hot flash of arousal through Asami and she was briefly stunned by it, by the images flashing through her head, and she was momentarily tempted to let it happen, but her trembling legs had other ideas. "Korra," she tried again, her voice urgent, but not for the sake of her legs. "Bed... please..."

Korra growled, as if those same thoughts had been on her own mind, but she finally managed to pull back, spinning to push Asami back toward her bed. As soon as Asami's back hit the covers Korra was there, straddling her hips and leaning down to kiss hotly up the column of Asami's throat. "One day," the southerner murmured thickly, her breath hot against Asami's skin, "I'll fuck you against the wall, and give your legs something to _really_ complain about." The curse was spat hotly against Asami's ear, making the northerner’s hands shoot up to tangle her fingers in Korra’s hair, gripping tightly and drawing a low grunt of approval from the southerner.

“Promise?” It took much longer than Asami would have liked for her brain to formulate a response, and the single word seemed vastly inadequate, but the low timbre of a voice thick with lust seemed to make up for that. Korra purred her agreement against Asami’s throat as she shifted, settling between Asami’s legs and pushing her thighs up to force Asami’s legs apart, and before Asami could even register how much she appreciated that particular move, Korra’s hips were rolling hard into hers.

The cry that escaped was bitten off as Asami’s hazy mind registered that Tonraq may be trying to sleep down the hall; when Korra repeated the motion, the effort of suppressing her own voice made spots burst to life in front of Asami’s eyes. “ _Fuck_ ,” she hissed, hands sliding down to grip at the back of Korra’s jacket, tugging both out of frustration and a need to get it off, get the southerner naked and feel warm, soft skin pressed tight to hers. 

She felt Korra’s smirk against her throat before a hot, wet tongue was dragging up the side of her neck, stopping just below her earlobe. “Soon,” Korra’s voiced promised, so close to her ear that a shiver clawed its way right down Asami’s spine.

“ _Now_ ,” Asami heard herself growl, tugging harder. Korra’s low chuckle only stoked the fire raging at Asami’s core, those strong, sure hands slipping beneath Asami’s top layers and letting fingertips dance along her skin, following the line of her pants. The muscles there twitched with the southerner’s touch, hips rocking a little as if to force those fingers lower. The movement had the opposite effect, however, and when Korra’s weight was suddenly gone, Asami’s eyes snapped open, staring incredulously as Korra shifted back onto her knees.

“Strip,” Korra said.

Asami couldn’t have said exactly what it was that made her hands jump to obey without question; whether it was the low, husky quality of Korra’s voice, the sight of her staring down at Asami with rumpled hair and swollen lips, or the promise of relief from the ache between her thighs. Before she really knew what she was doing, she was tearing her way out of her jacket and shirt, blindly discarding them before moving to push her pants down. Korra only shifted enough to let Asami kick her pants off, and as soon as they were gone Korra’s body was back – but that wasn’t enough for Asami.

Before Korra could settle again, Asami’s hands lifted to push back on her shoulders, keeping her up.

“Now you,” Asami said, flashing a smouldering look up at Korra from beneath thick eyelashes.

There was a moment where Korra said nothing, just stared down at Asami, and it was obvious that the command had had an effect on the cocky southerner. The cocky smirk was inevitable, but it took a second or two longer to appear, and Asami could have sworn she saw Korra’s pupils dilate further. “My, my,” Korra murmured, fingertips skimming over Asami’s bare stomach and making the northerner suck in a breath. “Aren’t we the bossy one?”

“Shut up and do it,” Asami growled, and Korra’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline – but then she was fumbling her way out of her jacket, her shirt, her pants, until she was left in only her linen bindings and underwear.

“Better?” Korra hummed, lowering herself and _very_ deliberately sliding her body over top of Asami’s, the touch of skin on skin making them both moan.

“Better,” Asami breathed, hands sliding down Korra’s hips and around, fingertips dancing over the small of the southerner’s back before moving further down to grasp tightly at Korra’s backside.

The action had the desired effect; Korra grunted her approval as her hips instinctively jerked forward, and this time Asami had to bite so hard on her lower lip to stifle herself that she tasted the sharp, metallic tang of her own blood. Very briefly, she was distracted by that as she ran her tongue over the spot, wincing a little at the sting – but then Korra was moving away again, and Asami immediately forgot about her lip, very nearly dragging her lover back by her damn _hair_. Before she could move, however, Korra was sliding her hands beneath Asami’s thighs, dragging her abruptly to perch at the edge of the bed while Korra stood, leaning over her and stealing her lips in a kiss that made Asami’s head swim.

Asami reached up to dig her nails against the side of Korra’s neck, free arm moving back to support her weight against the mattress. Korra’s lips lingered against hers for what felt like an eternity, but even then, when she started to pull away, Asami whined her protest – a sound that was abruptly cut off as Korra started to drop to her knees, lips working their way lazily down Asami’s throat, over the line of her collarbone, between her breasts (which, Asami realised distantly, were still contained within her bra), and down her stomach, working their way steadily south.

Asami’s throat dried out as she watched Korra descend down her body, those lips leaving a burning trail over her hypersensitive skin. When Korra paused at the line of Asami’s underwear, glancing up to meet the northerner’s gaze, Asami became acutely aware of the need scrawled all over her face; the way her swollen lips were parted around heavy breaths, the way her eyelids were drooped, half-concealing eyes that she knew were dark with lust. Holding that gaze, Korra slowly dipped her head down, pressing a kiss full against Asami through the thin material of her underwear; Asami gasped, hips bucking into the contact, but to no avail as Korra pulled away from the movement.

Asami groaned in frustration, a sound that melted away into a thick moan when Korra’s mouth returned, this time kissing with an open mouth, hot breath filtering through thin fabric and setting Asami on _fire_. Her head tipped back, eyes rolling closed, a sultry sound of need spilling from her lips as she fought against every instinct telling her to rock into that teasing mouth, to _take_ what she wanted from the teasing southerner’s lips.

Then Korra’s fingers were dipping beneath the waistband of Asami’s underwear and dragging them down with no small amount of urgency, and Asami knew that her reaction had snapped the southerner’s control. She couldn’t help the smirk that tugged at her lips as she rolled her head forward again to meet that intent blue stare, letting her lower lip catch between her teeth as Korra all but tore Asami’s underwear off and tossed them blindly to the side.

Korra’s eyes stayed glued to Asami’s, refusing to look away even as she slowly lowered her head, tongue peeking out to wet her lips. The anticipation was nigh unbearable; Asami actively fought off the urge to tangle her fingers in Korra’s hair and _force_ her face down. She could feel her pulse between her thighs, could feel how wet she was, even before Korra had touched her; she _needed_ Korra like she’d never needed anything in her life, and the southerner’s teasing was about to drive her insane.

Just when she thought she couldn’t take any more, Korra’s head dipped all the way and her tongue pushed forward to flatten itself over Asami’s clit and drag, slowly, over it; Asami saw stars, biting out a breathless, gasping moan as her hips instinctively rolled with the movement. Her free hand lifted to push back into her own hair, head tipped back as a murmured curse escaped her lips, and Korra groaned her approval as she repeated the motion, the sound sending tiny vibrations along her tongue that knocked any and all coherent thought from Asami’s head.

Korra seemed to lose control of herself at the same time; her face pressed closer, her tongue working hungrily against Asami’s swollen clit, and Asami only barely managed to hold on to enough self-control to keep from crying out with every pass of the hot, wet muscle. Each stroke was _exquisite_ , and she was already so worked up that it wasn’t long before she felt the tension at her core starting to tighten. Though she desperately wanted to prolong this, she found herself finally letting her fingers tangle themselves in Korra’s hair, pulling that mouth in harder as her hips rolled and bucked, her lips parted as gasping moan chased gasping moan toward the ceiling.

“Oh god, Korra, I – ” Whatever Asami had been trying to say was cut off as that tension abruptly snapped, giving way beneath Korra’s skilful tongue, and this time Asami failed to stifle herself. Her cry was deafening in the dark, lips attempting to form Korra’s name but only getting half of it out before the sound melted away into something that was almost, but not quite, a scream. Korra, however, showed no signs of slowing her motions; the only move she made was to make room for her hand as she sucked Asami’s clit into her mouth, sucking slowly, and unbelievably throwing Asami right back to where she’d started, aching and desperate for release.

“ _Fuck_ , Korra,” Asami whimpered, and then she was gasping as she felt strong fingers slip inside her, meeting no resistance. The same curse fell from her lips again and again as Korra’s fingers started to move, hooking and curling, the motions almost clumsy but no less successful in their work; moments passed before Asami felt herself falling again, harder this time, the tension building up so fast and so far that Asami was convinced, for a second, that her body would tear apart beneath it. Then it snapped and a thin sheen of sweat was breaking out over her skin as her hips bucked and rolled, free hand holding Korra so hard against herself that she probably couldn’t breathe, but continued to ride Asami through every last wave of her orgasm nevertheless.

When finally Asami’s body stilled and the arm supporting her weight finally buckled and gave way, letting her fall heavily back onto the bed, she didn’t move, didn’t speak, for several long minutes, fighting to still her panting breaths and get a hold of her thoughts. She felt Korra slowly pull her fingers back, press one last, chaste kiss against her soaked lips, and then stand up to climb onto the bed and crawl up beside Asami, lying on her side.

It was only when Asami had caught her breath that the crushing weight of everything she’d been trying to escape fell back onto her, and she rolled into Korra, tucking her head beneath the southerner’s chin and giving way to the hot tears that wouldn’t be held back any longer.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one took a bit longer guys, but I'm posting it earlier than I normally would - I like to be at least one chapter ahead of myself, but I've just discovered that I somehow forgot to save the first half of chapter 20, and I have to start again. Who knows how long that's going to take? So I'm posting early for you guys. Thanks for keeping up with me this far and for all of your lovely comments!

Asami couldn’t have said how long she cried for, but when she finally managed to stop, a sense of profound embarrassment washed over her. It must have been obvious, in the way that her muscles tensed and her skin grew hot with a blush that seemed to cover her whole body, because Korra’s arms immediately tightened around her.

“It’s okay,” she murmured into Asami’s hair.

“Sorry,” Asami mumbled regardless, pulling back just enough to reach up between them and wipe her face.

“It’s _okay_ ,” Korra said again, gently stroking Asami’s hair back from her face. “Given the circumstances, I’m surprised that it took you so long.”

Still, Asami felt selfish. She knew that it wasn’t unreasonable for her to have some kind of reaction to what had happened, but getting drunk and all but forcing Korra to… well, it didn’t seem like quite the _right_ reaction.

The thought made her cheeks burn and she risked a peek up at Korra, who was watching her with concern in her eyes. “Is now a weird time to tell you how fucking amazing that was?”

Korra laughed softly, pressing a kiss to Asami’s forehead. “There’s never a bad time for that,” she murmured. Asami noted distractedly that her own scent lingered about Korra’s face. She kind of liked it, but she wouldn’t say it aloud.

Instead, she leaned up to steal Korra’s lips in a long, slow kiss – a serious kiss, one with intent, but Korra pulled away.

“It’s okay,” Korra said for what felt like the millionth time. “You should sleep. We both should.”

“But – ”

“Another time.” Korra nudged her nose alongside Asami’s in a comforting nuzzle, a hand stroking through the northerner’s thick hair. “I’ll make sure of it.”

Asami didn’t quite manage a laugh, but she smiled, eyes closing as she drank in Korra’s warmth, her closeness. Silently, she thanked the spirits that she had Korra – she had no doubt that she’d have entirely lost her mind if she’d had to go through any of this alone.

It didn’t take her long to fall asleep, wrapped up safe in Korra’s arms.

 

It was several days before Asami could even start to think about heading back to the Reach.

She, Korra, and Bolin were left to their own devices. Even Tonraq largely left them alone, except to remind them to eat. There hovered a distinct cloud about Korra and Asami, and Bolin faithfully attached himself to them like a big guard dog, doing his best to ease their tension with light-hearted jokes and an earnest willingness to listen to them rant that Asami was profoundly grateful for.

As the days wore on, though, she started to think about Mako again. Each time she did, she felt guilty; partially for leaving him behind in the first place but also because she’d hardly spared him a thought since they’d arrived. There’d been too much happening and thoughts of her best friend had taken a back seat, but now that her brain had had time to pull itself back together, those thoughts came crashing back into the foreground and forced her to start considering her departure.

“Are you sure?” Tonraq asked when she broached her intention to head back home. “You’re more than welcome to stay as long as you need.”

Asami smiled warmly at him. Despite all that had happened, the loss that he’d suffered, Tonraq had actually warmed to her over the past week, treating her almost like she was a long-lost daughter. She appreciated that; if there was one thing she needed right now, it was a dependable father figure. “I’d love to stay longer,” she said, “but duty calls. I need to check up on Iroh and see what information he’s managed to get from Varrick.”

“The slimy one, right?”

Asami grinned. She and Bolin had had some choice words to say about Varrick over the last few days, and Tonraq couldn’t help but overhear them. “That’s him.”

“Do you want me to send some soldiers with you?”

“I don’t think that would be a very wise idea,” Asami said, “but thank you. I appreciate the thought.”

“I’m coming too.” Korra appeared as if out of nowhere, materializing at Asami’s side as if she’d been there all along.

“I thought you would,” Tonraq said with a small smile. “I’ll start making preparations, then.”

Asami was a little surprised at the lack of argument on Tonraq’s part. She wondered if he was actually starting to trust Asami and Bolin, enough to let them take Korra to the Reach without an armed escort.

Tonraq worked fast, and by the end of the day, he announced that an airship was ready to take them back north in the morning. Asami felt a slight jolt of panic at that; she’d assumed it would take a few days at least, but Tonraq, it seemed, worked efficiently, and so as the sun peeked over the tree-lined horizon the following morning, she found herself standing on the ramp of the southern airship, saying goodbye.

And it was only as she watched Korra hugging Tonraq that she realised she was going to miss this place, and miss it fiercely. She never thought she’d feel so strongly about the south – cold notwithstanding, it was beautiful and welcoming, and despite all of the terrible things that had transpired during her stay, she found herself becoming attached to it.

“Good luck,” Tonraq said as he released his daughter, turning his serious blue eyes onto Asami. “And be sure to keep in touch, alright? I don’t want to have to come running up there to rescue you kids.”

Asami smiled, and then jumped a little when Tonraq reached for her – but she quickly relaxed into the embrace, weak as her hold felt around his massive frame.

“Are you _sure_ Opal can’t come with us?” Bolin pled, approaching hand-in-hand with the girl in question.

“It’s too unstable right now, Bo,” Asami said apologetically.

“Bolin, it’s fine,” Opal said, but Bolin seemed on the verge of tears at the prospect of leaving her behind. “We’ll see each other again before you know it.”

“I’m gonna miss you,” he said, turning to pull her into a crushing hug.

Asami averted her eyes, smiling to herself, and inadvertently caught Korra’s eyes. The southerner was smirking, amused by the display, but her eyes never left Asami’s.

“Alright,” Tonraq said then, reaching over to pry Bolin and Opal apart. “Enough, or you’ll crush the poor girl.”

Opal giggled, stretching up on her toes to kiss Bolin’s cheek. Fire erupted onto his face and he cleared his throat, scuffing the toe of his shoe on the ground.

They said their last goodbyes, and Asami had to force herself not to turn back and look again as she led Korra and Bolin up the ramp and into the airship. She was convinced that she’d lose all her resolve if she did, and there was a lot of work to do back home.

 

 

The trip north seemed shorter somehow, despite Bolin’s near-constant moping. More than once he deliberately placed himself in Asami’s line of view and heaved long-suffering sighs until she paid him attention. And spirits, she loved him, but he needed to _stop_.

“Seems like you’re not the only one who’s fallen for a dirty southerner,” Korra murmured to her one day, and Asami had to stifle her laughter as she glanced up to see Bolin staring morosely out of the window, face pressed inelegantly against the glass.

“I’d probably react the same way if I was forced to leave you behind,” Asami murmured, casting a small smile in Korra’s direction.

“That’s disgusting.”

This time, Asami failed to suppress her laugh, and Bolin turned to give her an indignant look. “Excuse me,” he said, “but there’s nothing funny about _suffering_.”

“Shut up, Bo,” Asami said, grinning at him. “Just think about how happy you’ll be when you see Opal again.”

Bolin grumbled, turning his gaze back out the window.

He’d lightened up a little by the time they reached the Reach, though, and the thought of seeing Mako again brightened both his and Asami’s spirits considerably. Even so, Asami felt a surge of dread on the day that the city rose into view on the horizon; she’d been striving to not think about everything that had happened with Hiroshi since she’d stolen that damn letter from Varrick’s office, and now she was going to have to face it all head on.

At least she had Korra and Bolin with her – and Mako too, soon enough.

She was more than a little surprised that Mako wasn’t waiting for them when they landed. Iroh was there instead, greeting them with a professional bow. “Your highness,” he greeted Asami. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you, Iroh,” Asami said, genuinely pleased to see that the young general hadn’t been murdered by zealots. “How are things?”

“Uneasy,” he said, nodding his greeting to Korra and Bolin before turning to lead them off the airfield. “A lot of people don’t really understand what happened, and rumours abound, as is expected in this kind of situation. It’s been a full-time job just trying to prevent infighting.”

“Did you manage to keep Varrick from running off with his tail between his legs?”

Iroh nodded. “Barely. He was trying to make a run for it when we got back. Saw the army returning and just figured something had gone awry, apparently.”

“I’d like to talk to him.”

“Of course, your highness.” He hesitated a moment. “We have Hiroshi safely – and comfortably – contained, also, if you’d like to speak to him first.”

Asami hesitated, seriously considering the idea of confronting her father as soon as she’d landed. “No,” she said eventually. She wasn’t quite ready for that.

Iroh didn’t question her. “I’ll take you to Varrick, then. I think you’ll find him… surprisingly forthcoming.”

Asami arched a slender eyebrow at him, and he spread his hands helplessly.

“He gave up his accomplices almost before we could ask him who they were. Seems pretty eager to sell them down the river, actually. I have men searching for them as we speak.”

“That sure sounds like Varrick,” Bolin said.

“I knew I didn’t like him,” Korra agreed mildly.

“Varrick only cares about Varrick,” Asami sighed.

“And Zhu Li,” Bolin said.

Iroh led them into the depths of the palace and into the barracks, where the holding cells were located.

Varrick was lounging on his tiny cot like he was in a luxury resort and not a prison cell. Zhu Li was in there with him, leaning against a wall with a blank expression that betrayed none of what she was thinking. “Ah, your highness!” Varrick greeted Asami vastly as they entered the room, bouncing to his feet and offering a florid bow. “Glad to see you made it back in once piece!”

“Surprised, you mean,” Asami said. “If my father had succeeded, I’d be dead right now. Thanks in no small part to you, I imagine.”

Varrick’s expression actually grew serious. “I heard about Hiroshi’s little… breakdown. I can assure you that wasn’t planned for.”

“What _was_ the plan, then?” Korra demanded.

Varrick’s steely blue gaze slid over to Korra, his lips stretching into a broad smile. “Getting rich, of course,” he said simply. “I couldn’t let you meddlesome heirs stop this war. Do you have any idea how much money I’ve made from it? War is a lucrative business, ladies!”

“Too bad about all those pesky deaths,” Asami said acidly.

Varrick actually pouted, as if trying to endear himself to her. “I take absolutely no pleasure in the death toll, your highness,” he said. “But it’s just business. It just happens to be a business wherein people die. I didn’t _start_ the war.”

“You just profit off it,” Korra said.

“Exactly! See? She gets it!”

Asami rolled her eyes to keep herself from unlocking his cell and beating his head against the stone wall. “Okay, Varrick. Start from the beginning.”

“Well, you really threw a spanner in the works when you came back from Air Temple Island with Korra on your arm,” Varrick said. “I have to say, that was a _genius_ move. Never saw it coming! But I couldn’t allow it to happen, obviously, so I enlisted the help of the street kid to sneak onto your airship and attack you. He wasn’t really supposed to do any damage. The _real_ damage would be in the rumours flying around that you’d had a brush with an assassin. You have to make the people want the war for war to work, you know.”

Asami grunted, but didn’t say anything.

Varrick opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by a young guard poking his head through the door to the barracks. “Excuse me, general Iroh,” he said, “but we’ve caught the accomplices.”

Iroh glanced at Asami briefly before nodding. “Bring them in.”

The two figures that were dragged in, bound and chained, had sacks over their heads. They were forced to their knees before Asami.

“That’s a bit rough,” Varrick commented, but was ignored.

“Your highness,” Iroh said, turning to face Asami, “do you want to see them, or should we take them away?”

Asami stared down at the two, unsure. _Did_ she want to be faced with those who had helped Varrick to ruin the lives of innocent people? One – or both – of them could have been responsible for Senna’s death, and that thought made her glance over to Korra, who was staring hard at them, apparently thinking the same.

“Do it,” Korra said.

That was all Asami needed. She nodded to Iroh, who gestured to the guards.

When the hoods were removed, Asami’s heart didn’t just sink; it clattered all the way down into her feet, hitting her stomach on its way past and making her feel ill. Bolin gasped, and Korra’s hands balled into fists at her sides.

“Asami, I – ”

“Don’t.” Asami stared hard at the face she’d grown up with, the face she’d trusted with her _life_. “Do not speak unless I address you.”

Mako’s face was contorted into a look of such pure self-loathing that Asami could barely stand to look at him.

“What the hell, _bro_?” Bolin groaned, his voice muffled, like his face was in his hands.

The other face was somewhat less of a surprise.

“Kuvira,” Korra said coldly. “Fancy running into you all the way up here.”

Kuvira glared at her, but the expression lacked its usual venom.

“Varrick,” Iroh said, “why don’t you explain just how these two were involved?”

“Gladly! You see, just after you left for the south, your highness – and I mean, _hours_ after – Mako here caught Kuvira skulking around the palace.”

Korra arched an eyebrow at Kuvira, who met her gaze with that same steady glare.

“I ran into them while he was dragging her off to – well, here – and convinced him to let me talk to her.”

“You _listened_ to him?” Asami asked of Mako, incredulous.

“I can be very persuasive when I want to be,” Varrick said with a dismissive wave of his hand, cutting Mako off before he could say anything. “Anyway, I found out that Kuvira here was sporting a little grudge against our Korra. She hadn’t believed Korra’s story about staying on Air Temple Island, so she stayed behind, stowed away on your airship, and found herself in our fair city.”

Kuvira snorted. The guard holding her chains sneezed, his arm jerking and elbowing her in the back of the head. “Whoops,” he said flatly.

“Being the genius that I am,” Varrick continued, as if nothing had happened, “I knew that I could use Kuvira here to my advantage. I suspected that Asami was up to something when she came back, all smiles and apologies and announcing her engagement, so I smuggled Kuvira into the party to hear the announcement. And oh _boy_ , was she a tall drink of rage when she heard the big news!”

Kuvira’s jaw ticked, but she didn’t say anything.

“Kuvira was all too happy to help me after that, and Mako didn’t take too much convincing either. Did you know that your poor bodyguard has been in love with you for half his life, Asami?”

Asami turned her eyes onto Mako, who didn’t meet her gaze, keeping his eyes on the floor.

“He felt slighted, even though I’m sure he knew why you’d done it. If you ask me, I’d say he was more upset that you actually loved Korra. I don’t think anybody really saw that coming.”

“So you turned on me because you felt _scorned_?” Asami asked.

“I wish I hadn’t,” Mako said, his voice so quiet Asami could barely hear him. “I really do, Asami. It was a moment of weakness.”

“That I cleverly exploited,” Varrick added.

Asami glared at him, but gestured for him to continue.

“Well, it seemed like your little plot to marry into the south might actually _work_ , so we had to figure out a way to keep the animosity running. What better way to do that than a death in the family? I figured that would do a pretty good job of driving a wedge between you and Korra, since any rational southerner would obviously assume that the north would be behind the assassination of the chief’s wife. Kuvira knew someone who could help us with that.”

“ _You_ hired the Red Lotus?” Korra asked.

“I wasn’t about to let you dump me for _her_ ,” Kuvira spat.

“That jealous streak does you no favours, Kuv,” Korra muttered.

“Excuse me, attention on the genius!” Varrick waited until every eye was back on him before continuing. “Anyway, the rest is history. The Red Lotus did their job, and I, like the genius I am, set Hiroshi on the south just in time to descend during the funeral. But you!” And here he stopped to waggle his finger at Asami, like she was a misbehaving child. “You proved to be exceptionally good at getting in the way of things! When I heard that you’d turned my whole army around and sent them home like so many pet polar bear dogs, I made arrangements. I knew you’d never trusted me, and I didn’t trust Mako here not to rat me out.”

“And that’s when my men caught up with him,” Iroh said, staring hard at Varrick.

Asami wasn’t at all surprised that Varrick had been the antagonist behind everything bad that had happened to them over the past weeks, but it wasn’t Varrick that she was concerned about. She found herself staring at Mako, and though she _wanted_ to be angry, wanted to be cold and distant like Korra was being for Kuvira, she found that she simply couldn’t. It was _Mako_ – he had betrayed her in the worst way, and there was a great, gaping hole in her chest where her heart should have been, leaving no room for anything else – not even anger.

“Lock them up,” Asami said, tearing her eyes away from Mako. Ignoring Bolin’s sputters of protest, she walked right past the two prisoners and out of the barracks, almost too fast for anybody to follow. She was well on her way outside when she was finally caught.

“Asami!”

If it had been anybody else’s voice, Asami would have ignored it. She _wanted_ to ignore it; she wanted to carry on walking until she was gone, far away from this place, away from the reality of what she’d just learned. But her body reacted before her mind could stop it; she came to a stop, and the momentum that had been carrying her forward stopped, leaving her to slump against a cold, stone wall.

She would have fallen if Korra’s strong arms hadn’t encircled her, pulling her close. Korra was talking, she was distantly aware of that, but she couldn’t make out the words; vaguely, she realised that she was trembling, and then Korra was scooping her up and carrying her. She didn’t hear where they were going, and she didn’t care; she buried her face against the crook of Korra’s neck, fighting to steady her laboured breathing.

Slowly, the southerner’s comforting scent permeated her thoughts and she felt herself calming. Korra was still talking, the words finally registering themselves in Asami’s head.

“…expected. We don’t have to stay here if you need space to deal with it.”

Asami found herself nodding, arms wrapping around Korra’s neck.

“Are you… going to be okay?”

“No,” she said quietly. And she believed it.


End file.
